VILLANOVA, Pa.—Fifth year midfielder Austin Fraser (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) scored the game-tying and game-winning goals less than two minutes apart spanning regulation and overtime to lift No. 13 Villanova (10-3, 3-1 BIG EAST) to a come-from-behind 16-15 victory over Marquette (6-7, 1-3 BIG EAST) at Villanova Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The thrilling victory sent a Senior Day crowd of 1,130 home happy as the Wildcats overcame a late deficit in the final minute of regulation to win an overtime game for the first time in more than four years.
 
Fraser scored the game-winning goal with 2:49 left in overtime just moments after he had forced the extra period with only 32.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Villanova trailed by as many as three goals in the third quarter (11-8), then fell behind, 15-14, when the visiting Golden Eagles netted the last of three straight goals with 6:06 left in the fourth quarter. That one-goal deficit remained the margin until the waning moments of regulation when the Wildcats got the equalizer following a caused turnover by freshman defenseman David Evanchick (Darien, Conn.). 
 
On the day that Villanova honored its graduating seniors on the field prior to the game, the Wildcats faceoff specialist Justin Coppola (Garden City, N.Y.) broke the program's career record for faceoff wins with the 591^st of his career on the faceoff that began the overtime period. Coppola, one of eight seniors to be recognized during the team's Senior Day ceremony, is 591-of-1079 (.548) during his standout collegiate career. He broke the previous Villanova record of 590 faceoff wins which had been held by Thomas Croonquist (2011-14).
 
Fraser's late-game heroics made him the Wildcats leading scorer for the day with four goals. Starting attackmen Matt Licata (Sandown, N.H.) and Patrick Daly (Shrewsbury, Mass.) each had a hat trick, while midfielders Matt Campbell (Madison, N.J.) and Tucker Goodelle (Mooresville, N.C.) added two goals apiece. Villanova more than doubled up Marquette in shots (51-25), thanks in part to winning a season-high 21 faceoffs. Coppola was 20-of-30 at the X to come within one faceoff win of matching his single-game career high.
 
The sequence that eventually led to the Wildcats tying the game in the final minute of regulation started after the Golden Eagles called a timeout with 1:18 to play. Coming out of that timeout, Evanchick forced a Marquette turnover and scooped up the loose ball to give Villanova possession with less than a minute to play and the chance to hold for a final shot. Wildcats head coach Mike Corrado used his final timeout with 57 seconds left and Campbell missed a shot which was saved by Golden Eagles goalie Lucas Lawas. The shot was rebounded by Villanova however, and Fraser evened the score with just over 30 seconds remaining.
 
Neither team could immediately gain control of the ball on the ensuing faceoff after the game-tying goal, and it wasn't until the clock had trickled down to 18 seconds that Marquette finally picked up the possession on a 50/50 ball. There were fewer than 10 seconds left by the time the Golden Eagles started to move towards the goal with real momentum. Marquette had the ball behind the cage with only three seconds to play but had a pass attempt fall incomplete as time expired without an attempt at a last-second game winner.
 
The contest instead became the first overtime game the Wildcats have played in since a home game against Denver on April 28, 2021. Villanova had lost its past two overtime games since defeating Hofstra in an extra period at Villanova Stadium on February 23, 2019. Corrado is 13-10 in overtime games during his head coaching career.
 
Coppola won the overtime faceoff against Golden Eagles senior Grant Evans and the Wildcats cleared the ball with 3:41 on the overtime clock. They held possession and were in no rush as the shot clock dipped below 20 seconds. Fraser dodged two defenders at the 20-yard line, took a few steps backwards and then charged forward back to where he started and fired off an uncontested shot that won the game and sent Villanova into a frenzied celebration at midfield.
 
It was a game where goals came fast and furiously. The teams combined for four goals in the first five minutes of both the first and second periods. Marquette scored three straight goals late in the opening quarter to tie the score at 4-4 after a fast Wildcats start. Fraser's first goal of the game with 10:03 to play in the second quarter had Villanova ahead, 7-5, but the Golden Eagles countered with four straight scores in the final 8:41 of the half to take a 9-7 lead into halftime.
 
Consecutive goals by Marquette in the third quarter put the Wildcats into an 11-8 deficit at the 10:01 mark of the period. It was still 11-9 in favor of the Golden Eagles when Villanova's quick-strike offense showed what it is capable of when firing on all cylinders. Goodelle scored his first goal of the game at the 4:31 mark of the third quarter, Fraser tied the game with 3:43 to play and Daly put the Wildcats back in front just seven seconds later when Coppola streaked downfield and made a nifty pass after one of his faceoff wins.
 
Villanova eventually outscored Marquette by a 7-3 margin in the third quarter and led 14-12 at the end of the period. Goodelle scored a go-ahead goal with 1:40 to play in the period and Daly completed his 10^th hat trick in 13 games this season with 26 seconds left in the quarter.
 
In the fourth period, the Golden Eagles trimmed the deficit to 14-13 with 13:02 to play in regulation and later tallied game-tying and go-ahead goals in a span of just under four minutes. Both of those scores came from Devon Cowan, who evened the score at 14-14 with 9:44 to play and put Marquette into the lead at the 6:06 mark of the period.
 
Coppola had a career-high 16 ground balls on the day, the most by any Wildcats player in a single game since Villanova career record holder Chris Colliniates (2004-07) made 18 pickups on March 18, 2006. Coppola is just nine behind Colliniates' career record of 332 ground balls after his big day on Saturday. He has 323 ground balls in his Wildcats career, including a single-season program record of 131 last season.
 
Villanova got key performances from Evanchick and junior defenseman Reid Colwell (Westfield, N.J.) in Saturday's win. Evanchick had two caused turnovers for the fifth time this season, none of them bigger than the play which gave the Wildcats possession late in regulation. Colwell had a team-high three caused turnovers on the day and added five ground balls to his stat line for the day. Evanchick has 14 caused turnovers and 28 ground balls so far in his freshman collegiate campaign, while Colwell has emerged as a budding star on the Villanova defense with 21 caused turnovers and 33 ground balls this season.
 
Prior to the game the Wildcats recognized its senior class ahead of their upcoming graduations next month. The Class of 2023 includes Coppola; midfielder Gavin Burke (Wayne, Pa.); goalie Justin Clark (Rockville, Md.); attackman Gavin Derham (Doylestown, Pa.); SSDM Stevie Jones (Reston, Va.); SSDM Sam Parkinson (San Francisco, Calif.); midfielder Mason Reale (Westport, Conn.); defenseman Jonathan Taylor (Murphy, Texas); and student manager Tim Ruth.
 
On a day with so many superlatives to go around it was the result that mattered the most to Villanova, which has put itself in excellent position for the BIG EAST Championships which will be hosted by Marquette next month. The Wildcats are tied for second place in the regular season conference standings with Denver and will conclude the regular season at first place Georgetown this coming Friday night (April 28) at 7 p.m. Villanova is the only team to have played in all 10 editions of the BIG EAST Championship since the tournament debuted in 2012. The Wildcats have reached the championship game of the conference tournament three times, including last season.