AKRON, Ohio – Villanova staged a late rally Saturday night at Akron, scoring twice in the final 14 minutes, but couldn't come all the way back from an early 3-0 deficit. The Zips improved to 4-0 in BIG EAST play with a 3-2 win over the 'Cats at First Energy Stadium.
Jason Bouregy finished with a goal and an assist on the night for Nova (1-7-4 overall, 0-4 BIG EAST).
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"Akron's a really good team," said Villanova head coach
Mark Fetrow. "We knew that coming in and they showed us why in those opening minutes."
Wildcats' freshman goalkeeper
Alex Yagudayev made two high-quality saves in the contest's first eight minutes. Akron, though, broke through in the 10
th minute off a flurry inside the Villanova 18-yard box. Emil Jaaskelainen collected a loose ball to the right of Yagudayev and fired a high shot into the upper right corner of the net at 9:22.
Officials reviewed video to determine if the Zips had been offside on the play but ultimately allowed the goal to stand after a short review.
Not long after, Akron struck again.
Jaaskelainen converted a penalty kick opportunity at 11:47 to push the Zips' lead to 2-0.
The Wildcats generated two corner kicks and a shot from
Jordan Canica as Villanova pressed to counter.
But Jaasklainen struck again at 28;53, notching a natural hat trick and his 14
th goal of the regular season. That pushed the Akron advantage to 3-0 with just more than 16 minutes left in the first half.
"Emil is the leading goal scorer in the country, and we missed some clearances," stated Fetrow. "When you have a No. 9 as good as he is, he will make you pay for your mistakes."
That lead remained in place as the two teams headed to the locker rooms at halftime.
Akron owned an 11-3 edge in shots. Yagudayev was credited with four saves in the period, several of which were outstanding.
The Wildcats attempted to make a second half push with sophomore
Javon Daniels and Canica sending shots towards goal midway through the period. But Akron's defense was rock solid, keeping its clean sheet intact.
That all changed in the 77
th minute when graduate transfer
Jason Bouregy fired one into the goal to cut the deficit to 3-1. The official time of the goal was 76:16.
In the 87
th minute freshman
Karson Vazquez created a free kick opportunity when he was tripped just outside the 18-yard box.
Jorge Garcia – who scored the game-winning goal in Tuesday's 3-2 win from a nearly identical spot – curled a ball that drifted just wide of the right post.
A
Branden Johns bid a few moments later also missed.
Garcia fired a shot into the net in the 90
th minute off a nifty drop pass from
Michael teDuits to shave the gap to 3-2.
"I thought Bouregy, teDuits and JC (Canica) really worked relentlessly in that second half to create some quality chances for us," Fetrow said. "As a unit, we were able to change the tenor of the game with our work rate. That's something we can build on. We have a week of training and the aim will be to get some guys healthy and really sharpen our quality so that we can put together that kind of effort for 90 minutes."
Next up for the Wildcats is a Saturday BIG EAST Conference clash at Creighton. Kickoff for that one is set for 3 p.m. eastern.
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