Villanova will face top-seeded UConn in the Big East field hockey semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at Temple’s Howarth Field in Philadelphia.
The Wildcats are the No. 4 seed after a 3-3 conference season. UConn, ranked No. 3 nationally in the Big East’s tournament announcement, went 6-0 in league play. The national ranking and tournament seed measure different things: the Huskies are the conference bracket’s No. 1 seed.
Villanova enters at 10-7 overall, according to the conference’s season results. Its regular-season meeting with UConn ended in a 3-1 loss in Storrs on Sept. 18. The Wildcats closed their schedule with a 2-1 defeat to Liberty on Oct. 30.
Borkowski leads the attack
Graduate forward Ava Borkowski scored her 12th goal of the season against Liberty, converting a pass from sophomore Erin Mitchell late in the first quarter. That gave her a career-best 26 points, according to Villanova Athletics.
The university announced Nov. 3 that Borkowski earned her third Big East Weekly Honor Roll selection of the season. At that point, she ranked third in the conference in points and was tied for second in goals.
Borkowski is from Conshohocken and attended Plymouth Whitemarsh High School. She previously played at North Carolina, where she was part of the 2022 and 2023 NCAA championship teams, according to her official Villanova biography.
How to watch
Friday’s second semifinal pairs No. 2 seed Liberty with No. 3 seed Old Dominion at 4 p.m. Liberty finished 5-1 in Big East play; Old Dominion won the tiebreaker over Villanova after both teams finished 3-3.
The semifinal winners meet at noon Sunday, Nov. 8. All three tournament games will stream on ESPN+, and the champion earns the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
