PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—With less than 30 seconds left in the game, and only a few seconds remaining at the end of the shot clock, junior attackman Matt Licata (Sandown, N.H.) raced past a defender and turned back towards the net as he made an off-balance shot for the game-winning goal in a thriller between No. 18/14 Villanova (5-1) and No. 15/16 Penn (2-3) at Franklin Field on Saturday afternoon. Two goals in the final 1:46 of the contest erased a late deficit and lifted the Wildcats to a 9-8 win in the final game of the Philly 4 Lacrosse Classic.
 
Villanova trailed 8-6 deep into the fourth quarter before scoring three unanswered goals in the final 5:38 to surge past their city foes. This year was the third installation of the Philly 4 Lacrosse Classic which features a pair of doubleheaders involving the Wildcats and the Quakers along with Drexel and Saint Joseph's. Earlier in the week Villanova defeated Drexel, 14-7, in a game played at Sean Sweeney Field on the St. Joe's campus. Saturday's contest marked the third straight outing in which the Wildcats have held their opponent to eight or fewer goals.
 
Fifth year midfielder Matt Campbell (Madison, N.J.) scored in transition to tie the game at 8-8 with 1:46 to play after fifth year goalie Will Vitton (Summit, N.J.) made the biggest of his 11 saves. Senior faceoff specialist Justin Coppola (Garden City, N.Y.) came up with a big ground ball after Campbell's tying goal and Villanova ran the clock down to below 40 seconds. A shot by Campbell was wide and the Wildcats kept possession on a restart with 34 seconds to play.
 
Licata had the ball on the restart and beat gained separation from his defender as he navigated around the right side of the goal. His turnaround shot found the back of the net with 27.3 seconds left. Penn was called for its fourth faceoff violation of the final period and Villanova played a man-up as the remaining time on the game clock ticked off. A turnover by the Wildcats with under 10 seconds to go gave the Quakers one final chance, but a long pass downfield was thrown away as time expired.
 
For the second straight game Villanova had eight different players score a goal. Campbell led the Wildcats offense with two goals and one assist while his fellow fifth-year teammates Patrick Daly (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Austin Fraser (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) each had one goal and one assist, as did sophomore attackman Luke Raymond (Crownsville, Md.).
 
Villanova got big performances from several of its defensive players, including Vitton who made 11 saves while reaching double figures in stops for the fourth time this season. Fifth year SSDM Chet Comizio (Basking Ridge, N.J.) picked up six ground balls and the duo of junior Reid Colwell (Westfield, N.J.) on close defense and sophomore long stick Tripp Robinson (Summit, N.J.) had three caused turnovers apiece.
 
The game was a tight one from the outset and the Wildcats led 2-1 after the first quarter on a man-up goal by senior midfielder Mason Reale (Westport, Conn.) and a breakaway score by fifth year long stick Brody LaPorte (San Carlos, Calif.). The score was tied 2-2 early in the second period but Villanova scored three straight goals in less than six minutes to pull out to a 5-2 advantage at the 6:21 mark of the quarter. Senior attackman Gavin Derham (Doylestown, Pa.) and Raymond scored man-up goals with Campbell's first tally of the day in between them.
 
Fraser scored less than a minute into the second half to give the Wildcats a 6-3 lead, but the Villanova offense was then stymied by Quakers goalkeeper Emmet Carroll for nearly 24 minutes. Carroll came up with nine of his 21 saves in the third quarter alone and Penn eventually scored five unanswered goals to take an 8-6 lead with 10:28 to play in the fourth period. Three goals in a span of 3:12 early in the fourth quarter first tied the game and then put the Quakers in front for the first time since they scored the first goal of the game at the 9:32 mark of the first quarter.
 
It is never more than a matter of time before the Wildcats offense gets itself going, however. Villanova nearly doubled up Penn in shot attempts (48-26), had a 30-19 edge in shots on goal and was successful on all 21 of its clearing attempts. The host Quakers were whistled for 11 penalties in the game compared to four called on the Wildcats, and Villanova recorded its first game scoring four man-up goals since last year on April 2 against St. John's.
 
Next up on the Wildcats schedule is a 2 p.m. game at Monmouth on Saturday, March 18.