VILLANOVA, Pa. - The preliminaries are officially at end. Villanova's final seven regular season games will all be played within the BIG EAST Conference, beginning with a key match Saturday night at Providence (7:00 p.m.).

"You play your non-conference schedule to get ready for the conference season," says Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "After our 0-3 start, we were 5-0-1 in non-conference play so we feel like we improved. Now, we're just really excited to get going in the Big East."

The Wildcats (6-4-1 overall, 1-1-0 BIG EAST) have won four of their last five, with the only blemish in that stretch a 1-0 defeat at the hands of No. 9 Creighton on Sept. 27. The goal scoring has picked up - eight in the last three outings - and the defense has remained stingy, posting three straight shutout victories, including Tuesday night's 1-0 triumph at Stony Brook.

"I think the biggest thing to come out of the non-conference portion of the schedule is that we established an identity," stated Carlin. "We know how we want to play and who we are. We feel confident heading into the thick of the Big East schedule."

Villanova used the visit to Stony Brook Tuesday night as a test run of sorts for its Saturday contest at Providence (5-2-1 overall, 0-0-1 BIG EAST).

"We approached the game at Stony Brook with the mindset that it would be a tough, physical game - the same kind of game we would play in the Big East," explained Carlin. "It was exactly that kind of game and we were able to get the result. It wasn't always pretty but we gutted it out. That's the kind of approach we will have to take going into Providence."

The Friars have played just once since Sept. 20 after a pair of postponements. Travel issues forced the postponement of Providence's scheduled BIG EAST opener at Marquette on Sept. 27 and its next game at Connecticut was also postponed. PC last saw action on Saturday night, when it played Xavier to a 0-0 draw on its home pitch.

Providence picked up a 2-1 victory over the Wildcats in the meeting between the two teams last season on West campus. The Friars have won the last five meetings between the two programs. Villanova's last victory over PC came a decade ago - a 3-2 triumph on Sept. 11, 2004. Three of those defeats were especially painful as they came in the BIG EAST Tournament.

"They've got a lot of guys that can score," states Carlin of the 2014 Friars. "They can beat you in a bunch of different ways. We need to be able to neutralize their attack and create some scoring chances of our own."

Following the match Saturday, Villanova returns home to get set for its next BIG EAST clash, Wednesday afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex against Seton Hall (4:00 p.m./Nova Nation All-Access).