VILLANOVA, Pa. – For the Villanova Wildcats in October, the second goal has proved elusive.
 
It was again Wednesday on a cool autumn afternoon as Villanova and St. John's played to a 1-1 draw in an entertaining match at the Higgins Soccer Complex. Villanova is now 6-7-2 overall, 1-5-1 in BIG EAST action while St. John's is at 6-6-3 overall, 2-2-3 BIG EAST.
 
"I thought our guys battled to the end," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "We had some real chances to win this thing here. "
 
The first 45 minutes were scoreless.  Villanova owned a 7-5 edge in shots in that period but there weren't many dangerous moments for either side.
 
The second half was a different story.
 
Early in the session Tani Oluwaseyi  collected the ball for the Red Storm along the right sideline and drove towards the goal with the ball. His push allowed him to get in behind the Wildcats' defense and he finished the unassisted bid with a shot that eluded Villanova goalkeeper Carson Williams at 50:11.
 
"Unfortunately," stated Carlin, "they got the first goal. I thought our guys responded quickly though.  It got our tail up and really made us eager to get the W."
 
Indeed, Villanova got its goal a little over four minutes later as senior Zach Zandi and Yusuf Cueceoglu combined on a pretty cross and finish inside the box at 54:40.
 
And then the battle was joined in earnest. The contest went back and forth and Cueceoglu nearly got the game-winner in the final seconds of regulation. His bid was just wide of the St. John's net.
 
Both goalkeepers shined. Lenny Wilson made eight saves for the Red Storm while Williams made four saves for the Wildcats.
 
"We talked before the game that we would need to score two goals to win the game," stated Carlin. "We couldn't find that second one."
 
Villanova travels to Providence for a Saturday clash that gets underway at 1 p.m. (BIG EAST Digital Network).