Box Score MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Strong second half pressure wasn't enough for No. 13 Villanova on Saturday night, as it dropped a 3-0 decision to Marquette (3-3 overall, 1-0 BIG EAST) in the conference opener for both schools played here Saturday night. The Wildcats fall to 4-2 overall, 0-1 BIG EAST.
The Golden Eagles grabbed a 1-0 lead midway through the period, staved off intense Villanova heat for the first 30 minutes of the second half and then added two late goals as the Wildcats made every effort to grab an equalizer.
"Credit to Marquette for how they came out and defended us," stated head coach Tom Carlin. "They were trapping us at times and I thought we were a little slow in responding to it. It helped them create some chances."
After a mostly quiet first 20 minutes, Marquette's Connor Alba generated a strong chance for the Golden Eagles in the 24th minute on his own. Alba dribbled in from the right side, use a fake to gain inside traction on the Villanova defender and found space to fire a low shot towards the near post. But redshirt freshman goalkeeper Carson Williams was on point, stopping the shot for his second save of the evening.
A short while later, though, Alba created another scoring chance and this time he converted. Alba dribbled through the middle, used a deft crossover move, and unleashed a shot along the natural turf surface that sneaked inside the left post past an outstretched Williams to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 advantage in the 28th minute of the contest. The official time of the goal was 27:54.
"He's a great attacking player," noted Carlin. "I thought we were letting him get into space at times and, when that happens, a player of that caliber is going to create chances."
Villanova then began to generate its own opportunities.
Wildcats senior Zach Zandi won a ball inside the Marquette box with only goalkeeper Luis Barraza between him and the net. But Zandi was near the end line with a poor angle and the Golden Eagles goalkeeper calmly collected his shot in the 41st minute.
Marquette took the 1-0 lead into the locker room at the half. The Golden Eagles held a 6-5 edge in shots. Williams made three first have saves for the 'Cats.
"We had to re-group at halftime and I thought the guys really responded," Carlin stated.
Early pressure from Villanova came as the second half began. Sophomore Tommy Nealon sent a crisp dangerous cross through the box that nearly provided an early connection. And Theo Quartey teamed up with Zach Zandi in another sequence that tested the Golden Eagles back line.
The heat continued. In the 57 minute Andres Camacho found Jacob Anderson inside the top of the 18 yard box but the ball rolled away before Anderson had the chance to get a boot on out. The count remained 1-0 in Marquette's favor.
Some quality work on the right side resulted in an outstanding chance for Enda O'Neill in the 62nd minute. O'Neil's re-direction of a cross was on goal but Barraza was in position to make his best save of the night to that juncture.
Lafayette transfer Evan Vare – who missed the season's first four games – nearly got his first goal in the Blue and White a short while later. But Barraza stopped him at point blank range in the 70th minute after Vare had gotten with the ball onside behind the Marquette defense.
In the 75th minute Yusuf Cueceoglu appeared on the verge of tying the match when he worked a two-man game with Vare. The sophomore's shot eluded the Marquette goalkeeper and seemed headed towards the net before a Golden Eagles defender got a leg on the ball just before it crossed the goal line to deflect it out of danger.
"We had four or five high quality chances," stated Carlin. "But if you don't score goals in this game, you leave yourself open to what happened to us. Then you end up with the result we are dealing with now."
All the near misses caught up to the 'Cats with the game clock winding towards the 90 minute mark. Marquette capitalized after being awarded a corner kick. The ball eventually found its way to Patrick Siegrist near the top of the box. He fired a left-footed blast that Williams got a hand on but could not stop. The Golden Eagles grabbed a 2-0 advantage at that point in the 77th minute.
A Josh Coan header off a feed from Alba extended the Golden Eagles' margin to 3-0 in the 83rd minute.
The Wildcats return to the Higgins Soccer Complex on Wednesday afternoon, when Philly Soccer Six rival La Salle pays a visit to West Campus. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. A web stream will be available via the Nova Nation All-Access Pass at villanova.com.
