Oct. 29, 2005

Final Stats

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Senior Charlie Rowan (Livingston, N.J.) scored his fifth goal of the season in the 80th minute to lift Villanova to a 1-0 win over Syracuse in a Big East match played here Saturday evening. Goalkeeper Jason Friel (Dublin, Pa.) made eight saves to post his second consecutive shutout in net for the Wildcats.

Friel and the Villanova defense were forced to be on their toes in the early going. The Orange generated five shots while holding the Wildcats to only one in the first period. But Friel and friends kept the game scoreless at intermission.

The Orange owned a 9-3 advantage in shots in the second half but continue to be held at bay on the scoreboard. Villanova scored on its only shot on goal of the evening when Rowan took a feed from senior Greg Winther (Langhorne, Pa.) and lofted a shot over the head of Syracuse goalie Robert Cavicchia at the 80:44 mark.

"Jason Friel was the man of the match for us tonight," stated Villanova head coach Larry Sullivan. "Syracuse threatened us a lot early and Jason made a great save early. He really made five or six big saves to keep us in it. When we got our chance, we were able to capitalize."

With the win Villanova improves to 6-7-3 overall and 5-4-1 in the Big East. The victory locked up a Big East Tournament slot for the 'Cats, who now have 16 points in the Red Division. They can enhance their position in the Red Division with a win or tie against DePaul on Monday at the Soccer Complex. The stakes will be high for the Blue Demons too - a DePaul win would give it the final slot in the Big East Tournament, which features 12 teams.

The Wildcats and Blue Demons match will get underway at 1:00 p.m.

Notes: Villanova will play either Nov. 2 or Nov. 3 in the first round of the Big East Tournament. The four winners in first round play will advance to face the four teams which earned first round byes in the quarterfinals on Nov. 5 and Nov. 6.