Final Stats

CHICAGO, Ill.ââ'¬" The DePaul Blue Demons picked up a goal in the 74th minute to knock off the Villanova Wildcats 1-0 in a BIG EAST contest played on a bright and sunny fall afternoon here Saturday. The loss drops the Wildcats to 5-5 overall, 1-2 BIG EAST.

"I thought we created some good chances, but I'm not sure we created enough of them," stated Wildcats head coach Tom Carlin. "Credit to DePaul ââ'¬" I thought they did a good job stepping into us physically and imposing their will."

The first half was even in most every respect. The Wildcats owned a 7-6 edge in shots while the Blue Demons had the better of it on shots on goal, generating two that forced senior goalkeeper Will Steiner to be sharp. The teams were level at zero after 45 minutes of action.

Villanova's best work came late in the period as the Wildcats got good pressure, with the final shot of the period going wide off the foot of sophomore Jack Gilliam.

The first critical sequence of the second half came in the 74th minute. The Blue Demons quickly organized a dangerous counter attack after the Wildcats appeared to be zeroing in on a chance in the attacking third. An initial Blue Demon bid was blocked and DePaul's Joshua Bowser got the carom and dribbled down along the left side as he approached the 18 yard box. As the Wildcats moved to cut his path to goal off, Bowser lofted a perfect ball across the box that found Stijn Van Der Slot.

Van Der Slot deftly re-directed the ball high into the left side of the net, beyond the reach of Steiner. The official time of the score was 73:29.

"We went up for a head ball and weren't able to get it," stated Carlin. "They lobbed one in and made a play."

The final 10 minutes were characterized by frantic Villanova pressure. At one point, the Wildcats generated four straight corner kicks but none resulted in the equalizer. One final bid nearly came to fruition in the final possession but the Blue Demons got a boot on the ball to send it back to midfield as the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock.

Polley led the Wildcats with three shots on the day while senior Lucas Hodges and junior Zach Zandi each had two shots. Steiner finished with two saves on a day when the two sides combined for just 22 shots, 11 per team.

"I told the guys that the harsh reality of our situation is that we are at level and 1-2 in the conference," Carlin said. "That means we're going to have to fight, scratch, and claw for everything the rest of the way. It's all we can do. The good news is that the guys are confident and believe in what we're doing. Now, it's a matter of executing."

Villanova returns to action on Wednesday when it visits Princeton at 7 p.m.