Photo courtesy Mark Campbell

VILLANOVA, PA -- Freshman midfielder Corinne Drost (at right) exploded for a career-high five goals and nine different Blue Hens found the net as the University of Delaware women's lacrosse team ended its regular season on a high note with a 20-10 victory at Villanova on Friday evening at Villanova Stadium.

The Blue Hens, who built a 12-3 lead at halftime and cruised home from there, also got four goals from senior attack Casey McCrudden and a three-goal, two-assist outing from sophomore midfielder Emily Schaknowski.

Delaware (11-5, 4-3 Colonial Athletic Association) led 5-0 just eight minutes into the game, scoring three of those goals on free-position shots. Freshman midfielder Julianna Jeffers drew first blood, beating Wildcat goalie Lauren Latchford on a free-position try at the 27:59 mark. Schaknowski fired home a freebie of her own at 25:46, and then Drost got into the act on a feed from freshman middie Brittany Davis.

Just 11 seconds after Drost's first goal of the night, McCrudden gathered a pass from senior midfielder Katie Muth and buried the ball into the back of the net to extend the UD lead to four. Freshman midfielder Holly Burman converted a free-position attempt with 21:54 left in the first half to make it 5-0 before Stevie McFadden finally got VU on the board a minute later.

Sophomore attack Morgan Marino struck twice in a 30-second span as Delaware's lead ballooned to 7-1 with just over 18 minutes left before intermission.

Katie Stone's free-position goal pulled Villanova to within five at the 17:57 mark, but the 'Cats never got any closer the rest of the way. UD put the game out of reach with an electric four-goal surge, as Drost capped the run with her second score of the evening to push the margin to 11-2 late in the period.

Villanova outscored UD 7-3 over the first 10 minutes of the second stanza, trimming the deficit to 15-10 when Kyler O'Shea found the net with 9:54 left in regulation. But the Hens scored the last five goals of the night - the final two by McCrudden - to double up the Wildcats.

UD improved to 4-0 all-time against Villanova by out-shooting the Wildcats 39-28 and forcing 26 turnovers. The Hens went an incredible 6-for-7 on free-position shots and also won the draw control battle 18-14.

Stone led VU (4-13) with three goals, but she couldn't help the 'Cats avoid their fifth consecutive loss.

Muth finished with a goal and three assists in the final regular-season game of her career, while Jeffers and Marino recorded two goals apiece.

Drost has scored nine goals over her last three games after being held scoreless in her previous seven outings.

The Blue Hens established season highs in goals (20) and turnovers forced (26) while matching their season best with 39 shots. Delaware's 20 goals were its most since a 21-4 blowout of Villanova on March 16, 2005.

Junior goalkeeper Jessica Cerveny made 12 saves to earn the win for the Blue Hens, who have locked up either the third or fourth seed in the CAA Tournament and will play a semifinal game on May 2.

Boxscore