Box Score  
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – An early Penn State goal proved to be the difference here at Jeffrey Field Friday night as the Nittany Lions knocked Villanova from the ranks of the undefeated, 1-0. The Wildcats drop to 4-1 overall, 0-0 BIG EAST while Penn State Improves to 3-1-1 overall, 0-0 Big Ten).

"We never got going the way we wanted to," stated Wildcats head coach Tom Carlin. "There were too many turnovers. We have a lot of younger guys and they learned a lot tonight."

Villanova played without senior center back Luca Mellor, injured in the second half of Tuesday's 1-0 double overtime victory over Fordham.

"We missed Luca out there," Carlin noted. "There were some adjustments we had to make because of that. At times we had good possessions but we didn't generate enough scoring chances with them."

Penn State controlled possession early on this cool, cloudy night here and it produced an early marker. Seth Kuhn converted a feed from Christian Sload at 10:13 to put the Nittany Lions on top.

It marked the first goal surrendered by the Wildcats this season. Villanova's program best shutout streak was halted at 472:03. Goalkeeper Carson Williams established a new record for consecutive shutouts with five, dating to a 1-0 win in the 2018 finale against Seton Hall.

Villanova slowly gained its footing as the match unfolded in the first half. Junior Theo Quartey and freshman Lyam MacKinnon both generated high-quality scoring bids in the period that were saved by Nittany Lions goalkeeper Kris Shakes.
The Penn State goal was the only one of the first 45 minutes.

The Nittany Lions owned an 8-2 advantage in shots in the period.

MacKinnon came up with another strong bid for the equalizer in the 66^th minute off a nifty feed from Quartey. But Shakes was in position to gather the shot, earning his third save of the evening and keeping the Nittany Lions in front.

"We did have a few quality chances," Carlin stated. "Their keeper came up big."

The Nittany Lions got a terrific look a few minutes later, when Jalen Watson send a header that seemed ticketed for the middle of the net. But Williams got a piece of the shot, deflecting it over the top of the net and keeping the deficit at one goal as the contest moved past the 70-minute mark.

A short while later Williams was at it again, making another wonderful save on another quality Penn State chance.

In the end, though, Penn State was able to run the clock down and hand the Wildcats their first setback of the campaign.

"We wanted to be ready for the Big East," said Carlin, "and this environment taught us something tonight. I think we'll be better for it in the long run."

The Wildcats are back on the road on Monday evening, when they travel to College Park, Md., to take on the University of Maryland at 7 p.m. BIG EAST play begins one week from tonight, on Sept. 20, at DePaul.