VILLANOVA, Pa. – Part of
Tom Carlin's coaching apprenticeship came in the mid-2000s when he served as Associate Head Coach at Northwestern after a successful start to his career as head coach in Arcadia. He returned to the Philadelphia area in 2006 to join the Villanova staff and became head coach a year later.
Now, for the first time in 15 years he returns to Northwestern as the Big Ten Wildcats host the BIG EAST Wildcats Sunday at 5 p.m.
"This is my first time back at Northwestern since I coached there," said Carlin shortly after landing in Chicago on Saturday. "I've seen photos of the renovations and updates they've made and I'm eager to see them up close. I enjoyed coaching there."
Carlin then paused.
"But the big thing right now is that this is a business trip," he stated. "We're eager to get back into the win column."
The Wildcats are 8-6 overall, 4-4 in the BIG EAST as they prepare for this non-conference match. Carlin and his staff liked the flow of Wednesday's 3-2 double overtime defeat at the Higgins Soccer Complex to DePaul if not the result.
"I thought we played really well," noted Carlin. "I thought the number of chances we created and the quality of our attack possessions was good. Unfortunately, when you concede two goals in the first 15 minutes, you put yourself into a hole that can be tough to climb out of."
Villanova is coping with a series of significant injuries to key members of the midfield and back line. Junior
Marcus Brenes last saw action in a 2-1 win at Temple on Sept. 11. Junior
Josh Belluz last saw game action in the first half of a 1-0 victory at Connecticut on Oct. 6. Junior back Anthony Cousins Jr. sat out Wednesday's game after starting the team's first 13 games.
"It just mounts," said Carlin. "It took us a bit to figure things out after losing Marcus. We had to figure out things again after we lost Josh. Then we added A.J. to the list.
"But I think we kind of figured it out as we went through the DePaul game."
The weather forecast for Sunday is not optimal as rainy and windy conditions are expected.
"Look, it starts with one win," Carlin stated. "It's one day at a time and doing the things we have to do. I really believe we can still be a very dangerous team as we come down the home stretch."
Villanova will have two BIG EAST games remaining on the schedule after Sunday. It travels to Providence on Oct. 30 and closes out the regular season on Wednesday, Nov. 3 against Seton Hall at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
