April 29, 2005
Final Stats
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Junior attack Brendan O'Donnell (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) and sophomore midfielder Mike Haas (North Wales, Pa.) scored two goals apiece, but No. 18 Penn State (8-5) defeated Villanova (7-7) 10-5 on Friday evening at Jeffery Field. The game was the final regular season for the Wildcats, who now prepare for a CAA semifinal game against Towson on Wednesday, May 4.
Villanova trailed throughout the game on Friday, but chipped away at a 6-2 halftime deficit early in the third period. Haas scored both of his goals in a span of 1:02 early in the period to get the Wildcats within 6-4 at the 9:56 mark, but the Nittany Lions came back and scored the final two goals of the period to extend their lead back to 8-4 by the end of the period.
O'Donnell registered two goals for the second straight game since returning from an injury sustained against Notre Dame earlier this season. Senior midfielder Dan Fanelli (Wantagh, N.Y.) contributed the other Villanova goal, while senior attack Marc Creegan (West Babylon, N.Y.) passed off two assists. Junior goalie Joe Canuso (Moorestown, N.J.) had nine saves in goal.
Penn State got off to a quick start in the first period, scoring three unanswered goals in a span of 57 seconds to establish a 3-0 lead with 9:19 left in the opening quarter. Back-to-back goals a mere seven seconds apart (10:16 and 10:09) started the flurry, and the Nittany Lions added two late goals to take a 5-0 lead at the end of the period.
The Wildcats bounced back with goals by O'Donnell at the 14:02 mark and 9:10 mark of the second quarter to get within 5-2, but a goal by Penn State with just 56 seconds left in the first half settled the halftime margin. Haas kept Villanova in the game with his goals at the beginning of the third quarter before the Nittany Lions extended the lead back to four.
The Wildcats were outshot 38-26 by their hosts, despite getting 11 shots of their own in the first period. However, Penn State goalie Chris Courteau made five of his 10 saves in the first 15 minutes to allow the Nittany Lions scoring spree.
There were a total of 15 penalties in the game, and Villanova blanked Penn State in extra-man opportunities (0-for-7) while scoring a pair of man-up goals (2-for-8) against the Nittany Lions defense. The Wildcats controlled 8-of-17 faceoffs and had 33 ground balls.
Villanova has drawn the No. 3 seed in the CAA conference tournament, and will visit No. 2 seed Towson on Wednesday afternoon. Earlier this season, the teams met at Villanova Stadium and played a marathon game, in which Towson came away with a 10-9, four-overtime victory. In the other semifinal game on Wednesday, No. 1 seed Delaware hosts No. 4 seed Hofstra. The league championship game is on Saturday, May 7 at the site of the highest remaining seed.
