For the third year in a row, Quinnipiac and Villanova played a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire game. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, they have been defeated in all of those games, with the latest coming on Friday afternoon.

All three contests have ended in a 2-1 victory for Villanova, but this installment had a lot of action for a three-goal affair.

Two goals were called off after video reviews, one for each team. Valerie Perkins appeared to give the Bobcats a lead midway through the second quarter, but upon review, the goal was called back for touching another Bobcat in the circle. Villanova had a third goal called back late in the fourth quarter that could have sealed the game.

“We should’ve put three or four in the net,” head coach Becca Main said after the game. “The ‘would’ve, could’ve, should’ve’ are what wakes us up at four in the morning, and they’ve been waking us up all season.”

It was another disappointing performance from the Quinnipiac attack, as the Bobcats are averaging just one goal per game in their 12 contests. Quinnipiac has only scored three goals on its current four-game losing streak.

The scoring got started when Villanova senior Megan Vermeil slotted home her fourth goal of the season three minutes into the contest.

Quinnipiac quickly answered less than two minutes later. It was freshman Julianna Cappello who evened the score for the Bobcats with her second goal of the campaign. She carried the ball into the circle and fired it through the keeper’s legs for the goal.

“Julianna is somebody who was born to score,” Main said. “She’s been evolving and picking up on our style of play very quickly.”

The teams stayed deadlocked until Wildcats senior Lydia Sydnor finished off a feed from Abby Siana to give Villanova a 2-1 advantage late in the third quarter. It was Sydnor’s 10^th goal on the season, keeping her amongst the leading scorers in the Big East.

Quinnipiac pulled the keeper with four minutes left and continued to press Villanova’s defense, but to no avail. In total, the Bobcats had six penalty corners and outshot the Wildcats 12-8.

“The stars were aligned and we didn’t finish it,” Main said. “That’s on us and it’s probably the most frustrating thing about the game.”

This marks Quinnipiac’s fourth one-goal loss on the season, and its third straight against Villanova.

The Bobcats fell to 3-9 following the loss, 1-3 in conference play. Despite this recent slide, the players are trying to keep a positive vibe in the locker room.

“We’re trying to keep our energy up,” Cappello said. “We’re discussing what we can improve on as a team and trying to build our chemistry.”

Quinnipiac will try to display that energy in its next game on Sunday when they travel to Maine to take on the Black Bears.