PROVIDENCE, R.I. ââ'¬" Providence's Julian Gressel scored a pair of goals Saturday to help lift the Friars to a 3-1 victory over Villanova in a BIG EAST match played here. The loss drops the Wildcats to 6-5-1 overall, 2-2 in the BIG EAST.

Senior Padriac McCullaugh scored for the Wildcats.

A goal from Gressel at 2:48 put the Wildcats into an early hole. Gressel took a feed from Nick Sailor and sent a shot into the net past junior goalkeeper Will Steiner to put the Friars out in front.

"We kind of gifted one to Providence early and it forced us to chase the game from the start," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "As we were opening up, we committed an unforced turnover and that left us out of position. Providence took advantage of it."

The Wildcats trailed 1-0 at intermission but Carlin liked the tempo his team was playing at. The Friars (7-5-0 overall, 2-2 BIG EAST) owned a 6-4 edge in shots over the first 45 minutes.

"I thought we were getting the looks we wanted," Carlin said. "It felt like we were on target to get the equalizer. We took some momentum into the second half."

Villanova pressed and had several near-misses. Yet a second miscue in its own end again proved costly.

"We had a good flow and were creating chances," stated Carlin. "But another unforced error hurt us. It was almost a carbon copy of the first one as we were opening up." This time Gressel found Alex DeCosta, who used some nifty footwork to position himself for a a shot that went just past Steiner and inside the right post at 53:18.

McCullaugh took a feed from sophomore Kian Zapata and converted with a shot into the top left corner at 76:18 to carve the gap in half at 2-1.

"It felt like it was only a matter of time before we got the next one," said Carlin.

Instead, the Wildcats were whistled for a foul inside their own 18 yard box in the game's waning moments. Gressel blasted the ensuing penalty kick inside the left post at 84:10. It was his eighth goal of the season and put the cap on a 5-point afternoon.

"Our guys battled and we didn't let our injuries interrupt the flow," stated Carlin. "We just couldn't get past those turnovers that they were able to convert."