March 1, 2011
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Eight Villanova scorers, including seven points from Kevin Cunningham (Garden City, N.Y.) carried the balanced Wildcat attack as VU (2-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) brought home a 14-13 victory over No. 16 Drexel (1-2, 0-0 CAA) on Tuesday afternoon.
In a game that was tied six times, Villanova scored two goals in the span of 48 seconds to break a 12-12 tie to defeat the Dragons at Vidas Field.
Head Coach Michael Corrado states, "This is a great win over a top-20 team and huge rival for us. It's a big win early in the season. I'm proud of the way we rebounded from our loss against Bucknell. We beat a very good opponent in Drexel."
"Offensively, Kevin [Cunningham] had a great game. It's always good to see balanced scoring and Max Hart, Matt Bell and Michael Vigilante all gave us good looks," adds Corrado.
Villanova rebounded early in the game after giving up a two goal lead to begin the first quarter. Sophomore Nick Doherty (Bernardsville, N.J.) began the offensive attack at the 8:54 mark, ripping a shot to the top left corner from a Matt Bell (Severna Park, Md.) assist.
Within two and half minutes, C.J. Small (San Diego, Calif.) and Cunningham gave Villanova the 3-2 lead with 6:12 remaining in the period, the latter coming off an extra-man opportunity after Drexel's Frank Tufano was called for unnecessary roughness .
Drexel rounded out the quarter with Scott Perri notching his first of four goals of the game at the 1:11 tick to even the score at three apiece.
Cunningham continued to guide the Villanova offense into the second stanza, notching three goals at the 9:57, 3:49 and 1:58 marks to bookend a Max Hart goal 1:15 into the quarter. Drexel responded with two Brendan Glynn goals to tie the game at 5-5, but the scoreboard would favor the Wildcats, 7-5, at the end of the half.
The Dragons made the most of their opportunities out of the locker room, coming out strong with a Glynn goal at the 13:40 mark followed by Perri and Trizano notching scores with 7:45 and 6:37 remaining.
The Wildcats surrendered four EMO chances to Drexel in the third quarter, with Villanova being down two men at the 5:06 mark for a slashing and offsides calls. Senior Brian Karalunas (Dewitt, N.Y.) came up with a huge takeaway to deny the Drexel attack, and Bell countered from a Cunningham assist with time running out to give the `Cats a 9-8 lead.
The Wildcats took the lead for good with 5:24 remaining in the game. Michael Vigilante (Massapequa, N.Y.) took a feed from Bell to put Villanova ahead, 13-12. Just moments later, Cunningham set up Jack Rice (Baltimore, Md.), who beat Drexel keeper Mark Manos from in close to put Villanova up by a pair of goals.
Drexel answered with 2:06 remaining in the game, and Villanova won possession after the face-off, but on a few occasions the Dragons were able to get the ball on the ground. However, Drexel forced a late turnover with under 15 seconds remaining. The Dragons got the ball over midfield, but the Villanova defense broke up a shot attempt right before time expired to hold onto the win.
Villanova won nearly every statistical category, topping Drexel in ground balls 30-29, and shots, 37-32. The Wildcats also made the most from the face-off X, winning 16 of 29 attempts. Junior Nolan Vihlen (Germantown, Tenn.) went 11-19 and freshman Thomas Croonquist (North Caldwell, N.J.) captured 5 of 10.
"I'm happy with the way we won the face-off battle for the first time this year. Nolan [Vihlen] and Croonquist worked hard for us," said Corrado.
On the defensive end, sophomore Billy Hurley (Morristown, N.J.) made eight saves in the victory and faced 32 shots, while Drexel's Mark Manos tallied 14 saves in the defeat.
Chris Creighton led the VU backfield with six caused turnovers and four groundballs on the day.
Villanova will round out their three-game away stand this weekend when they travel to Fairfield, Conn. to face the Stags on Alumni Field. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
