PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Down a man in a tie game in the final 20 minutes on Tuesday night at McCarthy Stadium, Villanova needed a boost.
Redshirt forward Seidu Shamsudeen stepped forward in the 88th minute to provide it.
Shamsudeen took a feed from freshman Anthony Dragisics and knocked it into the net at 87:29 to lift Villanova to a 2-1 victory over La Salle here. The win clinched a share of the Philly Soccer Six title for the Wildcats (8-4-1 overall, 1-2-1 BIG EAST). The Explorers fell to 6-71 overall, 2-3 in the Atlantic Ten.
"La Salle had a good game plan," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin, who recorded his 200thcareer win with this result. "They did exactly what we thought they were going to do and did a good job of it. When we went down a man, it kind of became easier to defend them in a way. It was just a matter if we could get one.
"Seidu just made an incredible play. I saw in him in transition, running hard, and saw it go in. It came from us winning a battle."
"Drags had the ball in the middle," said Shamsudeen, "he looked up and I saw space between the two center backs. I just made a run. I mishit it, it came back to me and I hit it again."
It was an uphill battle for the Wildcats, who fell behind by a goal at 29:39 when Isak Sedin scored for the Explorers. La Salle had enjoyed the better of the play to that point.
Villanova answered quickly though. Freshman Lyam MacKinnon drew a foul inside the 18 yard box and Theo Quartey converted the penalty kick at 30:45 to level matters.
"Our reaction immediately was incredible," noted Carlin. "It showed the resolve and fight in this group."
That will was tested in the 70th minute, when senior back Shane Bradley was assessed his second yellow card of the night. That meant he was sent off and the Wildcats were to play a man down the rest of the way.
Shamsudeen returned to the pitch after getting a rest with just over nine minutes to play in regulation.
He made certain every second counted.
"I got a little bit of rest and had a lot of energy coming back in there," Shamsudeen said.
The win helped the Wildcats move past a disappointing 4-0 defeat Saturday night at No. 10 St. John's.
"Coming off a loss to St. John's we needed this to get back on track," stated Shamsudeen. "It's always good to get a Soccer Six win."
Villanova returns to the Higgins Soccer Complex on Saturday, when it hosts Marquette in BIG EAST action that gets underway at 1 p.m.
