Sept. 10, 2011
Final Stats
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Cal. - The Villanova Wildcats (2-1-1) began a two-game weekend swing to the West Coast on Friday evening with a 1-0 loss to Cal Poly (2-1-1) here. The only goal of the night came off the foot of the Mustangs' Dylan Collins midway through the second half.
"This is a tough environment to play in out here," said Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "The fans are loud and they are right on top of you. I thought it took us a while to get our legs under us but felt like we created a bunch of chances in the last 10-15 minutes. We were close to getting the equalizer but give credit to them, they made the one goal lead stand up."
The evening saw three injured Wildcats return to the pitch. Sophomore Dylan Renna, who underwent two surgical procedures on his hip, was in the starting lineup at forward. Senior Kevin Garcia returned to the lineup after sitting out Sunday's 1-1 tie with Colgate following an injury he suffered in the Aug. 31 victory over Drexel. And sophomore Daniel Gonzalez was back, entering the game as a reserve in the first half, after suffering a shoulder injury in the season opener that caused him to miss a pair of contests.
"It was good to see them back out there," stated Carlin. "It's going to take some time for us to get used to playing with them again, especially Renna up top. We've been without him pretty much since the end of last season. But those guys are healthy and we're thankful for that. I think you saw some glimpses tonight of what we'll look like when we have everyone together."
The first half ended without a score and a total of only seven shots, four by the Wildcats and three from the Mustangs. Junior Kyle Soroka and freshman Aaron Dennis had the `Cats two shots on goal while senior goalkeeper John Fogarty made a pair of saves for VU to keep the match scoreless after 45 minutes.
"You come out here to the West Coast and it really does take you some time to get adjusted," said Carlin. "I think that had something to do with how we started."
Cal Poly broke through with the game's sole goal in midway through the second half. Dakota Collins dribbled into the center of the field and tucked a shot inside the left post to stake the Mustangs to the lead. Assists on the play were awarded to Benny Estes and Evan Richter.
"Cal Poly is a very aggressive team that likes to attack," noted Carlin. "I thought for the most part we did a good job neutralizing that. We got caught out of position on the goal and they took advantage. We were probably only one step out of position but that can be the difference."
"At the end of the game I thought we were playing well. We just couldn't get one through."
The stats underscore how precious scoring opportunities were on this night. The Wildcats were limited to a season-low 10 shots while the Mustangs only came up with one more (11). Cal Poly had one more shot on goal than did VU (4-3) but had the one that mattered most.
Villanova looks to bounce back on Sunday afternoon when it visits UC Santa Barbara. Kickoff is slated for 4:00 p.m. eastern time.
"Now we have the chance to play a top 10 team on its home turf on Sunday," stated Carlin. "It's a great opportunity and I think we now have a good sense of what it will be like. We learned a ton from this game and that's really why we wanted to come out here."
