In a matchup of top 10 teams on Saturday afternoon, the #7 Maryland Terrapins jumped on Villanova early and often en route to an 11-5 win at Byrd Stadium in College Park, MD. With the loss, the #10 Wildcats fall to 4-3 on the year, while the Terps improve to 5-1.

Maryland opened the game by blitzing the Villanova defense for 6 goals on 14 shots in the first quarter. On the other hand, Nova only had 2 shots over the first fifteen minutes with neither of those shots being converted. The remaining three quarters were even for the most part, but being down by 6 to a strong and physical Maryland team is a tough hill to climb.

Attackmen Owen Blye put on a show for the home squad, as he notched 4 goals and 2 assists. Niko Amato continued his impressive goalie play with 12 saves on the day. For the Cats, only 7 players registered points on the day and nobody had more than 1 point, which basically sums up the abysmal offensive performance. The lone bright spot for Villanova was Thomas Croonquist, who was 11-16 on faceoffs. Without Croonquist, this game could have been a lot worse.

The daunting stretch of games for the Wildcats continues next weekend as Nova travels to Syracuse on March 25th to open up conference play.