South Bend, Ind.- The Villanova Wildcats season came to an end on Sunday evening when they fell to Notre Dame it the second round of the NCAA Tournament by a final of 3-0.
Jorge Garcia took the first shot on goal of the game in the 5
th minute. The sophomore took a shot from the top of the box and placed it right in the middle of the goal, but it was saved by the Fighting Irish keeper. In the 18
th minute Notre Dame got on the board when Paddy Burns sent a long pass from behind midfield to Jack Lynn who was on the near side of the box. Lynn took his first touch and got a cross shot off that found the back of the net put them up 1-0.
Lyam MacKinnon got two strong shots off, the first came in the 23
rd minute from 20 yards out. The juniors shot was in the bottom right corner but was saved. The second was taken from outside the box and sailed just high right.
Carson Williams picked up his second save of the half in the 36
th minute on a shot by Paddy Burns, the deflection of the save came to Lynn who headed the ball, and it went off the crossbar. The ball then found Burns again as it deflected back into play, and he was able to connect to make it 2-0 Notre Dame.
MacKinnon got another great shot in the 59
th minute. The junior took the ball down the box on the far side and was able to trip up his defender. The shot went just high of the upper 90. Villanova's next shot came from Garcia, who was at the top of the box. The sophomore was on the run and sent a shot high to the left.
Seidu Shamsudeen came into the game in the 70
th minute and took a shot on his first offensive opportunity in the 72
nd minute. Shamsudeen sent a shot from outside the box right to the middle of the goal that was saved by the Notre Dame keeper.
In the 78
th minute Anthony Cousins Jr. took the ball down the far side of the box and kicked the ball into the middle to
Akinjide Awujo. Awujo took one touch and got a shot off that sailed just high. The Wildcats offense kept going having back-to-back corner kicks and shot from MacKinnon that was blocked.
In the final eight minutes of the game the Wildcats played a man down when Anthony Dragasics received his second yellow card. The Fighting Irish scored their third goal in the 85
th minute. The play started when Williams saved a shot by Matthew Roou that went back into play and found Ben Giacobello. Giaobello was just outside the box on the far side and sent a shot that was just out of the reach of a diving Williams to make the final 3-0.
The Wildcats were picked to finish 11
th in the preseason BIG EAST Coaches Poll and finished the 5
th seed in the conference tournament. Villanova beat Creighton in the quarterfinals and fell to Georgetown in the BIG EAST semifinals with just 26 seconds to go in regulation. The Wildcats earned the programs second NCAA Tournament bid and earned their first NCAA Tournament win against Vermont on Thursday night. Also, the 12 wins on the season ties the all-time program record for victories.
