Box Score Sept. 1, 2017 Final Stats
Villanova, Pa. -
A Wildcat goal in the 55th minute would be the game-winner as Villanova defeated Saint Joseph's 1-0 on Friday afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
With the win, Villanova improves to 2-2-0 overall and the Hawks move to 2-1-1 on the season.
"Extremely excited for the team to play the way they did today" shared head coach Chris McLain. "You always want your team to play better with every game. Today they did just that. The team took ownership in a system that wasn't them, they made it it their own... but now have added their flavor. The more they have the freedom to express themselves on the pitch, the more creative their play becomes."
After a first half that saw Villanova dominate on the offensive font, out shooting the Hawks seven to one, it didn't take long in the second half to get one to fall for the Cats.
In the 55th minute Emily Kuefler passed the ball down to the top right corner of the box where Amanda Vocelka was coming in.
The senior was able to get the ball past her defender and get herself set up right in the middle of the box and one on one with the Hawk's goalkeeper. Her kick went right past the keeper and give Villanova what would be the game winner.
Just over five minutes later Villanova had another great chance when sophomore Ida DiClemente got a strong shot off but Saint Joseph's Grace Bendon was able to dive and save the shot.
The Wildcat backfield of Emily Harris, Conner Huggins, and Kristin Barbour were able to limit Saint Joseph's to only three shots on goal during Friday's contest.
"St. Joes is a fantastic team, and they missed their star, Dakota Mills. But even without her they are an extremely dangerous team," continued McLain. "Proud that our team held them to one opportunistic shot in the first half, but when they got rolling, proud we kept the shutout!"
Next the Wildcats will close out the weekend with a Sunday afternoon matchup against the Lafayette Leopards. Game time at the Higgins Soccer Complex is set for 1 p.m.
