Final Stats

STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Hayden Harr's fourth goal in his last three games helped lift Villanova (6-4-1 overall, 1-1-0 BIG EAST) to a 1-0 triumph over Stony Brook (3-7-1 overall, 1-0 America East) Tuesday night in a non-conference match played on Long Island. The win was Villanova's third in a row and its fourth in its last five outings.

Neither team scored in the game's first 45 minutes, a marked contrast to Villanova's last two contests when it had scored multiple times before intermission, including the four it posted in Saturday's BIG EAST win over DePaul. Yet the Wildcats retained the confidence built with their recent strong work.

"I liked our pace early," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "I thought we kind of picked up where we had left off on Saturday. We created some chances but this time, couldn't get one. Stony Brook really fought and I didn't think we were as sharp in the later part of the first half, which allowed them to get some things going in transition."

The Wildcats were crisper in the early stages of the second half than they had been late in the first.

"At that point it felt like it was just a matter of time until we got one," said Carlin.

The key moment arrived in the 56th minute. Sophomore Max Kroschwitz helped start the play with a nice ball that was deflected. The ball came to sophomore John Jlopleh on a run and he found an open Harr. The senior from Parsippany, N.J., who on Monday was named co-Philly Soccer Six Player of the Week, took care of the rest to record what would prove to be the game-winner at 55:57.

"It was good work from both Max and J.J. that set that one up for us," noted Carlin.

The Wildcats' defense kept Stony Brook bottled up the rest of the way. The Seawolves produced only two shots in the second half for a total of four on the night. Junior Michael Manta stepped into the center back role normally occupied by Willis Griffith, who was unavailable after receiving his fifth yellow card of 2014 in Saturday's 4-0 victory over DePaul, and performed admirably.

"Mike Manta was awesome all night," said Carlin. "I thought he did a great job tackling and came up with some key balls in the air for us. In a lot of ways he was the player of the match for us."

This marked the second time in the week Villanova's reserves came through in a big way. In the Oct. 1 win over La Salle, the Wildcats were without senior Oscar Umar after he incurred a red card against Creighton.

"You obviously don't like to lose key guys but it's a long season and things are going to happen," Carlin stated. "You're going to have cards and injuries. We felt all along that we were a deep team and we've shown that. We've gotten great minutes out of (Jlopleh), Eric McKenna, Damilola Adetola, and now Manta. (Matt) Wiltse is starting to make an impact again after missing some time. It's great to see"

Harr is another who took advantage when opportunity knocked.

"Hayden was ready when he was called upon," stated Carlin. "We saw in the spring how bought in he was to what we are doing and that has carried over into the fall. He's scoring goals and now identifies himself as a goal scorer."

Sophomore Will Steiner made two saves in picking up his third consecutive clean sheet in goal.

Villanova resumes BIG EAST action on Saturday evening when it visits Providence at 7 p.m.