Villanova (11-7-1, 5-4-1 BIG EAST) at Vermont (13-4-2, 6-1-1 America East)
2021 NCAA Tournament
Thursday, Nov. 18, 6 p.m.
Virtue Field
Burlington, Vermont
Winner advances to play at Notre Dame, Sunday, Nov. 21
 
After being picked to finish 11^th in the preseason BIG EAST Coaches poll, the Wildcats combined their best start ever in league play (4-0) with a finishing 3-1-1 kick to secure the program's second ever NCAA Tournament bid (2016).
 
DOUBLE DIGITS
 
The 11 victories recorded this season mark the sixth time in program history that the Wildcats have reached double digits in wins in the BIG EAST era (1991, 2003, 2007, 2012, 2016). The single season program record for victories is 12, established by the 1980 Wildcats (12-4) and matched by the 2012 edition (12-6-2).
 
FIRST MEETING
 
This is the first ever meeting between Villanova and Vermont in men's soccer. The only fall 2021 common opponent was the Catamounts' America East rival, UAlbany. Villanova dropped a 1-0 decision to the Great Danes on a penalty kick goal in the 73^rd minute on Sept. 3 at Higgins Soccer Complex. Vermont defeated UAlbany 2-0 on Oct. 23.
 
NO PLACE LIKE THE ROAD
 
One of the quirks of Villanova's 2021 fall campaign is that it fared slightly better away from home (6-3-1) than it did in the comfort of its own Higgins Soccer Complex (5-4-0). The six road victories are the most in a single season by the Wildcats since 2007, when those triumphs included a win at No. 1 Duke. Tom Carlin served as Associate Head Coach that year before assuming the top job the following season.
 
The Wildcats own road wins at Temple (2-1), Marquette (1-0), Xavier (1-0), Connecticut (1-0), Northwestern (2-0), and Creighton (2-1). They also earned a 0-0 draw on Oct. 30 at Providence.
 
HIGH FIVE FOR BIG EAST
 
Five BIG EAST men's soccer teams heard their names called on Monday afternoon during the 2021 NCAA Championship Selection Show as Georgetown, which earned the league's automatic bid, was joined in the field by at-large selections Creighton, Providence, St. John's and Villanova. The five selections are the most for the BIG EAST since 2013 when the conference also earned five selections into the 48-team field.
 
Fresh off its fifth BIG EAST Championship crown in seven seasons, Georgetown (16-2-0) earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Championship and will host the winner between Charlotte/Georgia State in the Second Round. The Hoyas earned an NCAA bid for the fourth straight year, ninth time in 10 seasons and 12th time overall.
 
Providence (10-4-4), the BIG EAST Championship runner-up will host Marist in round one, with the winner set to face No. 14 seed and defending champion Marshall in the second round. The Friars earn an NCAA bid for the second straight season and 11th time overall.
 
The No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Championship, St. John's (10-5-3) earned an at-large bid for the second time in three seasons and 22^nd time overall. The Red Storm, who have a 27-20-1 mark in the NCAA Tournament, will host Princeton in the opening round. The winner will travel to face top-seed Oregon State in the second round.
 
The No. 4 seed in the BIG EAST Championship, Creighton (8-7-2) are back in the college cup for the first time since 2016 and 25^th time overall. The Bluejays boast a 34-20-7 all-time mark in the tournament and will face Missouri State on the road in the First Round. The winner will take on No. 6 seed Tulsa in the second round.
           
STEPPED UP IN CONFERENCE PLAY
 
Villanova's 5-4-1 mark in BIG EAST action is its best since 2016, when the Wildcats ended the campaign at 5-3-1. That team hosted DePaul as the No. 4 seed in the opening round of the BIG EAST Tournament and played a scoreless draw. Villanova advanced to the semifinals on penalty kicks.
 
CARLIN COUNT
 
The Wildcats' win at Creighton on Nov. 6 was Tom Carlin's 115^th as head coach, pushing him past his predecessor Larry Sullivan (114) as the program's all-time coaching wins leader. Carlin, who began his career as the head coach at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa., enters this matchup with a career mark of 234-13-33. His Villanova record is 115-116-24. This is the ninth time in 14 seasons that he has guided Nova to the BIG EAST postseason and the second time he has brought the Wildcats into the NCAA Tournament.
 
LYAM LED
 
Junior Lyam MacKinnon – first name is pronounced "lie-um" - leads Villanova in scoring with seven goals and five assists (19 points) and was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. With one more goal, MacKinnon would become the first Wildcat since Sean Sheridan in 2015 to score eight goals in a single season.
 
CARSON'S LOOMED LARGE
 
Senior goalkeeper Carson Williams (Plano, Tex.) was named to the BIG EAST All-Tournament team after a stellar two game postseason performance. Williams made nine saves in the two outings, including a few highlight specials. Earlier this season he became Villanova's all-time leader in shutouts (20). Williams became Nova's regular goalkeeper in 2018 and has started every game he has appeared in. His next appearance will be his 60^th game in the net at Villanova.
 
BELLUZ BRINGS THE D
 
Villanova's other representative on the All-BIG EAST Tournament team was junior defensive midfielder Josh Belluz – last name pronounced, Bell-use. A sign of Belluz's significance to the Wildcats came during a four-game absence owed to an injury suffered in the first half of Nova's 1-0 win at Connecticut on Oct. 6. The 'Cats dropped four straight decisions without Belluz. With Belluz in the lineup, Villanova is 11-3-1.
           
CENTER BACK STABILITY
 
Junior Viktor Benediktsson and sophomore Jack Bonas have served as the heart of Villanova's stingy defense at center back during this fall campaign. Benediktsson was tabbed BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 4. The Wildcats conceded 21 goals across 19 games (1.11 goals against average) this season. Eight of those goals came in a pair of losses, at Penn State (four) and vs. Creighton (four). In Villanova's other 17 outings, it posted a 0.76 goals against average with eight shutouts.
 
FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT
 
One of the more notable aspects of the 2021 Wildcats is that the unit features only four seniors: Williams, reserve goalkeeper Kent Dickey, reserve forward Seidu Shamsudeen (two goals in 2021) and reserve midfielder Dylan Middlebrook. Williams is the only senior starter among the most used starting lineups over the last month.
 
QOUTING CARLIN ON THE NCAA AT-LARGE BID
 
"It starts at the top, with our leaders at Villanova, (University President) Father Peter (Donohue, O.S.A.), (Director of Athletics) Mark Jackson and his team. They had patience with us to let us build, not putting so much pressure on us that it was overwhelming. From there, it just shows that these guys bought into a growth mindset, just getting a little better every day. Sometimes, the results aren't going to be what you want but that doesn't mean you can't continue to grow. This group bought into that."

VILLANOVA IN THE 2016 NCAA TOURNAMENT
 
The Wildcats' only prior NCAA Tournament experience came in 2016, when the team earned an at-large bid and traveled to Akron to meet the Zips. A recap of that 2-0 loss is below.
 
AKRON, Ohio - A successful season that will long be remembered for its breakthrough milestones came to an end as Villanova (10-8-3) fell by a 2-0 score to No. 24 Akron (13-5-3) at FirstEnergy Field in an NCAA Championship first round match.
 
Villanova made its first NCAA Championship appearance and notched the fifth season with at least 10 victories in program history. Prior to earning an NCAA at-large bid, the Wildcats reached the semifinal round of the BIG EAST Championship and defeated three nationally-ranked teams during the regular season. Included among those keynote victories were games against No. 10 Creighton, No. 11 Boston College and No. 22 Delaware. Six of the 18 regular season opponents Villanova faced were among the 48 teams that made up the NCAA Championship field.
 
"This was a great experience for our guys, and it was great for our program and the university to get to the NCAA Championship," Wildcats head coach Tom Carlin said. "That isn't how we approached it. We approached it to win, but we drew a Final Four team at home in the first round. Akron is a great team and they are really starting to catch stride at the end of the year, so it's tough. We had a lot of freshmen out there and a lot of inexperienced NCAA guys because the program had never made it before. For us, this is the next step. We got to experience it and that was important."
 
Akron put steady pressure on the Wildcats defense in the first 15 minutes of the game to set an early tone. Villanova was more than up to the task of withstanding that charge however, and the game remained without a goal until the 39th minute. After consecutive shots from 10 yards out by Sam Gainford were denied on a team save and a block by the defense, the Wildcats were unable to clear the ball out of harm's way and Nick Hinds scored at the 38:34 mark to open the scoring. Hinds scored both of the Zips goals for the night, and he struck again in the 73rd minute to give Akron a 2-0 lead. A ball that Jonathan Lewis played down the sideline stayed just in bounds as it crossed midfield, and Goncalo Soares played the ball into the box for Hinds to finish the scoring.