VILLANOVA, Pa. –  Villanova opened the home portion of its 2021 spring schedule with a 3-0 loss to area rival Temple at the Higgins Soccer Complex Wednesday.
On a sunny but frigid afternoon with a game time temperature of 27 degrees, the two teams played to s scoreless draw over the match's first 45 minutes. The Wildcats owned a 6-1 advantage in first half shots and Temple goalkeeper Kamryn Stablein as forced to make three saves in the period.
 Sam Rosette had three shots in the first half for Nova while Allison Breed added two more for the Wildcats.
 Temple generated a pair of shots early in the second half, both of which were saved by Wildcats' goalkeeper Maria Thomas.
The Owls (1-1 overall) snapped the deadlock at 53:52 on a goal by Hailey Gutkowski. Temple scored again at 57:53 to go up 2-0. Emily Kavanaugh made it 3-0 in favor of the Owls at 67:30.
Breed led the Wildcats with five shots on the day, including four on frame. Rosette contributed four shots on the day, including two on net. Thomas made six saves, all in the second half.
Villanova (0-2 overall) returns to the pitch this Sunday against another local rival. Saint Joseph's is set to visit the Higgins Soccer Complex for a match set to kick off at 2 p.m.
