Sept. 1, 2009
Final Stats
BALTIMORE - Villanova's Kyle Soroka struck a shot from 25-plus yards on the right side of the box and put it in the upper left corner of the net for the match's only goal, and the Wildcats defeated host No 18 ranked Loyola, 1-0, Tuesday afternoon in front of a crowd of 1,714.
Soroka used time in the open field outside the box on the right side. His hard shot sailed right-to-left, just over the hands of an outstretched Kyle Wittman.
The score came at the 82:02 mark, and despite four shots in the remainder of the game by Loyola (0-1-0), Villanova (1-0-0) held off the Greyhounds.
"We competed extremely hard today and got the big time finish when we needed it," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "I have watched Kyle hit that shot several times with our Delco club team so when he wound up, I knew it was going to cause problems for the keeper."
Villanova's defense was at the heart of this triumph.
"Our back line and defensive mids did a tremendous job in neutralizing Loyola's ability to counter and our weak side defense was much improved," noted Carlin. "Loyola is a great team and both teams created scoring chances but I am very proud of our guys' resilience as the game went into the late minutes of the second half. Regardless of what happened, we were going to keep battling."
The Greyhounds put early pressure on Villanova, taking four shots in the first 29 minutes. Glenn Leitch's low rocket from the top of the box was saved by Wildcat goalkeeper Chris Bresnahan, thwarting Loyola's best chance.
Soroka nearly put Villanova on the scoreboard with just over seven minutes remaining before halftime, striking a hard shot at the near post that was saved by Wittman.
Leitch took another good chance from the top of the box in the 53rd minute, but it was blocked by a defender.
Wittman then made a pair of saves on consecutive Wildcat shots. Kevin Garcia and Matt Margiotta took shots for Villanova, but the junior goalkeeper made saves for Loyola.
Loyola's Jamie Darvill then flicked a shot at the left side of the goal in the 76th minute, but Bresnahan made a diving save for Villanova.
Villanova outshot Loyola, 11-8, in the second half, 15-12 in the match. Each team received five corner kicks.
Wittman made four saves for Loyola, while Bresnahan had two for Villanova.
The Wildcats return to action this Friday in a Philadelphia Soccer Six contest at Temple. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.
