Oct. 17, 2009
Final Stats
ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - The Villanova Wildcats (7-5-2 overall, 4-3-1 BIG EAST) used a high-powered offense to deliver a 4-2 victory over DePaul (7-6-1 overall, 4-4-0 BIG EAST) in a BIG EAST Red Division match played on a cold and rainy afternoon at Eastern University. The contest was moved here from Villanova's West Campus Soccer Complex this morning after heavy rains in the area soaked the natural grass surface there.
The sprint turf surface at Eastern helped make for a fast pace from start to finish. Scoring chances for both sides were plentiful and Villanova took better advantage of theirs than did the Blue Demons, particularly in the first 45 minutes.
"We challenged our guys during this last week and they really responded," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "We were able to finish some plays and created a lot of opportunities for ourselves."
The Wildcats carried the early action, generating five of the contest's first six shots. They got on the board quickly off a pretty passing play that began with junior Anthony "Jordy" Griffith on the right wing. Griffith sent a ball towards the top of the box where classmate Nick Rouzier fed the ball towards sophomore Will Ogden. Ogden then headed the ball into the back of the net, past the outstretched arm of DePaul goalkeeper Joe Ferrari to make it 1-0 at the 5:35 mark.
DePaul countered that score with one of its own in the 17th minute. Nathan Feltz picked up a ball that had been knocked away by a Villanova defender along the right sideline and then dribbled into the corner towards the end line. He then fed a nifty cross to Steffen Vroom who headed a ball past Villanova keeper Chris Bresnahan at 17:50 to tie the game.
It didn't take long for Villanova to answer. After DePaul was whistled for a foul outside the top of the box, the Wildcats were awarded a free kick. Kyle Soroka, Mike Seamon and Chris Christian were near the ball but it was Christian who put his shoe on it, launching a gorgeous shot over the Blue Demon wall into the upper left corner of the net at 20:37 to give the `Cats the lead back.
A free kick led to VU's third goal as well. This time the ball was placed well outside the box on the left wing, approximately 20 yards from the goal. Soroka curled the blast into the top shelf of the net at 36:08 to extend the advantage to 3-1.
That is where the score remained at intermission. The Wildcats owned a 10-5 edge in shots.
The steady rain continued in the second half but it did nothing to slow the scoring chances. After DePaul made a bid in the `Cats' box early in the half, VU collected the ball and began a fast break down the field with Griffith in control. He found Seamon, who sent a cross through the box to Ogden. The sophomore headed the ball into the net for his second goal of the afternoon and third of the season to make it 4-1 at 55:01. The assist by Seamon was his seventh of the season, which puts him atop the BIG EAST in that category.
DePaul did not go quietly. The Blue Demons out-shot VU 12-8 in the second half and got their second goal at 65:13 when Vroom found Patrick Hopkins, who knocked the ball past Bresnahan to cut the gap to two.
The Wildcats had two near miss scores of their own in the second half. Stephen Paresi's shot hit the left post and Seamon hit the crossbar after breaking in alone on Ferrari.
"This was a good effort by our guys," stated Carlin. "No we have to build on this as we come into the final stretch of the regular season."
Next up for the `Cats is a non-conference home game against Columbia at the Soccer Complex on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.
