VILLANOVA, Pa. –  The Villanova Wildcats (2-2-2 overall, 0-0-1 BIG EAST) opened BIG EAST Conference regular season action Saturday against the preseason league favorite Providence, earning a 1-1 draw with the Friars before a near-capacity crowd at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
 
On a warm 84-degree afternoon, both teams showed the skill that allowed each to advance to the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
 
"I thought we carried out our approach fairly well," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "That's as dangerous a group of attaching players as we'll see in this conference. They have a bunch of dangerous guys so we knew it was going to be tough. I thought we stood strong for the most part. I'm proud of our effort."
 
Villanova's goal came on its first shot of the day in the 45^th minute. Anthony Cousins Jr. served a beautiful ball in on a corner kick from the right side, connecting with senior Viktor Benediktsson who re-directed the ball into the net past Friars' goalkeeper Lukas Burns at 44:20.
 
It was the second time in as many outings that the pair combined for a set piece goal. They connected for the final score in Wednesday's 3-0 victory over NJIT here at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
 
This was one of only six first half shots by the two sides, five from Providence. The Wildcats took that 1-0 lead into the break at halftime.
 
Villanova leaned on its defense into the second half and mostly kept Providence's danger away from goal. But a failed clearance outside the top of the 18-yard box turned into a quick strike goal at 74:03 for the Friars (2-2-3 overall, 0-0-1 BIG EAST).  Thomas Tulgar found Brian Lopez, whose winding shot into the netting to level the match at one.
 
"We got the set piece goal," Carlin said. "We've got to ride that out. It was a little unfortunate how they scored. There was a mistake. Outside of that I thought we were solid. Providence made it real hard on us but I was proud of the way we generated two or three more dangerous chances over the final 15 minutes."
 
Indeed, sophomore Vincent Petrera's pressure on Burns as the keeper looked to boot the ball down the field nearly produced another Wildcats' score. Petrera blocked the clearance attempt and won the race to the loose ball, just ahead of Burns. But the Friars' keeper recovered to block the Petrera shot attempt over the end line.
 
Later, Lyam MacKinnon dribbled in with space on the left side, forcing Burns to make a save on another bid for the go-ahead score.
 
"Some great chances," Carlin said, "but they didn't go in today."

At halftime, Villanova honored student-athlete members of UNITAS, Villanova Athletic's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative. Representatives of aligned student groups took part in the ceremony.
 
"We've got to be the group that stands out for UNITAS," stated Carlin. "If you look at our roster, we have guys who come from all different backgrounds. We have great diversity on this team. We wanted to make this a celebration of UNITAS on campus because it's just so important to our team and me personally. It was unbelievable to see the support we received today from UNITAS."
 
The Wildcats now get a bit of a break. They'll next see action Friday night at St. John's (7 p.m./BIG EAST Digital Network).
 
"We told the guys to enjoy their Sunday," Carlin said. "We haven't had a free Sunday in a while. We'll get into our St. John's prep on Monday."