VILLANOVA, Pa. – Another tight defensive battle was decided in the 80th minute as junior Theo Quartey (Accra, Ghana) scored his first goal of the season to help carry Villanova (6-3-1 overall, 1-1-1 BIG EAST) to a 1-0 victory over Xavier (4-5-1 overall, 0-3-0 BIG EAST) on a windy afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
The Wildcats have yet to concede a goal at home this season, and they extended their record to 5-0 on the artificial surface on the west side of Villanova's campus. Goalkeeper Carson Williams (Plano, Texas) made five saves in posting his seventh shutout in 10 outings this season.
"We felt we were getting a lot of good looks today," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "Our final ball wasn't great at times but we were able to get one late.
"Theo's a tricky player. He made a good run and it kind of squirted out to him."
Indeed the critical sequence began with the Wildcats working in the final attacking third. Senior Sean Teixeira sent a ball across that deflected off of traffic in front. Quartey collected the ball on the left side, in front of goalkeeper Matthew Rosenberg and sent a rolling shot that eluded Rosenberg. A Xavier defender nearly got into position to knock the bid away but the linesman ruled the ball had crossed the goal line at 79:35.
"We weren't sure it was in until we saw the linesman pointing his flag at the goal," said Carlin, who registered his 99th victory as Villanova head coach with this triumph.
In the first half, freshman Lyam MacKinnon had nearly put the Wildcats in front but his bid from the left side rolled just wide of the right post.
On the afternoon, Villanova owned a 15-10 edge in shots and 5-3 advantage on corner kicks.
"It starts with the back, our keeper and center backs," Carlin said. "We really limited their chances. We did a good job on Samson Sergi, who is an All-Big East player. From there we just had to keep attacking with our outside backs and outside mids."
The Wildcats have surrendered just three goals in 10 games this season.
"We love playing here," stated Carlin of the Higgins Soccer Complex. "I didn't realize we hadn't been scored on at home. The guys have a lot of camaraderie, they support each other and they know what they can do back there. They have a lot of belief and it's showed."
Villanova will be back at the Higgins Soccer Complex on Tuesday to host James Madison in non-league clash that gets underway at 4 p.m.
