Final Stats

PRINCETON, N.J. ââ'¬" Princeton got the game's first goal in the opening minute of the contest and added another in the second half and rode that to a 2-0 victory over Villanova in a non-conference match played here tonight. The Wildcats overall record falls to 5-6-0 overall, 1-2 BIG EAST while Princeton improves to 2-5-2 overall, 0-1 Ivy League.

The fans at Myslik Field were barely settled on to the aluminum benches in Roberts Stadium when the game's first significant moment arrived. After a Villanova miscue in front of the net, Princeton was awarded a free kick from nine yards out. The Wildcats stacked the goal line with a wall of defenders and that group blocked the original free kick from Kevin O'Toole.

The rebound, however, caromed back to the Tigers' Benjamin Issroff, who sent into the net at the 59 seconds mark.

Just that quickly, the Wildcats were staring at a deficit.

"We put ourselves in a hole early and that made it tough," stated Wildcats head coach Tom Carlin. "But I liked our fight throughout the game. We were battling, creating chances. But we put got behind and it couldn't have come at a worse time for us."

Villanova kept its composure, though, and soon was pushing its attack forward. Senior Miguel Polley helped create several quality chances and sophomore forward Jacob Anderson generated three shots in the first 45 minutes. Yet the Wildcats were not able to level that match through the first 45 minutes.

Goalkeeper Will Steiner's fifth save of the night, early in the second half, might have been his best. A Tigers blast nicked a Villanova defender on its way towards net, re-directing the shot towards the upper right corner of the net. However, Steiner, extended his left arm and was able to knock the attempt away to keep the Wildcats within a goal in the contest's 50th minute.

At 71:54 Princeton got a terrific individual strike from O'Toole. He turned and drilled a precise left-footed blast into the upper left corner of the goal past the outstretched arm of Steiner to push the Tigers' advantage to 2-0.

"It was a great play by (O'Toole)," noted Carlin. "I thought there were a couple of things we could have done better in the sequence leading up to that strike, but he made a great play."

A couple of late bids, including a near-miss on a re-direction by freshman Theo Quartey fell short.

The final count was 2-0. Princeton finished with a 17-13 edge in shots.

"On the whole, I liked the battle, I liked the fight we showed," Carlin stated. "I thought it was a good statement going back into the BIG EAST."