April 7, 2007

Box Score

Villanova, Pa. - Villanova scored a goal in the first minute of each period on their way to defeating Manhattan College this afternoon at Villanova Stadium. The Wildcats (5-4, 1-1 CAA) claimed a convincing 12-6 victory over the Jaspers (4-5, 1-2 MAAC) in a non-conference match-up. Villanova had four different players registering two goals each, while senior Chris Colliniates broke the school record in the fourth period collecting his 287th career groundball to bump him ahead of 2003 graduate Owen Corso.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as seniors Andy German and Eric Webber put Villanova's first two goals on the board just under two minutes into the first period. Manhattan's Brian Murray was able to slice the Wildcat lead in half, but Villanova quickly mounted an offensive and extended their lead to 4-1 by halftime. Senior Mike Haas and junior Chris MacDonald were also able to maneuver the Jasper defense to notch goals three and four for the Wildcats during the second period. The Jaspers struggled to generate any sort of offense as Villanova held an overwhelming 28-7 shot advantage in the first half.

Mirroring his first half performance, German also kicked off the scoring for the second half just 40 seconds after the initial face-off. Thirty seconds after that, senior Eric Heidenberger added to the Wildcats already extensive lead by sailing one past Manhattan goalie John Geagan putting Villanova ahead 6-1. However, the Jaspers refused to sit back on their heels. Manhattan's Kyle Serbay and Marc LaBelle closed the gap and brought their team to within two goals. Villanova then answered by scoring back-to-back goals from Heidenberger and freshman Richard Lyons. At the 1:45 mark, Manhattan's Angelo Marrano capitalized on one of the Jasper's four shots for the third period, sneaking a goal past Villanova's Andrew DiLoreto to make the score 8-4.

While the Wildcat's defense held the Jaspers at bay only allowing Manhattan to score two more goals for the remainder of the game, Villanova's junior class kept up the scoring streak and collected four more goals to make the final score 12-6. Jay Foley chipped in two goals, while classmates Tim Atkins and MacDonald had one a piece.

Villanova heads out on the road next week ready to battle CAA foe Drexel University on Wednesday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m.