VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova and UConn battled through to a 0-0 stalemate on Sunday afternoon at Higgins Soccer Complex, giving both teams one point to add to their BIG EAST ledgers.
The scoreless draw marks the second such results this season for Villanova (5-5-5, 2-1-4) and back-to-back clean sheets. The group is up to seven shutouts this season, landing it one away from matching the 2019 squad's eight-shutout total.
"You know, UConn is a fantastic team," head coach
Samar Azem said. "They're a very well coached team, a lot of talent on that team. To shut them out is a big deal, you know, and credit to our whole team. The way they defended and did it together and it came down to the wire with our backs and our goalkeeping really making sure to keep everyone organized, but we also were shut out. That's something our team has started to take a lot of pride in, which is a lot of fun to coach - a team that really wants to score goals and create goals."
Madison Shumate led Villanova with three shot attempts, landing two of her chances on goal. UConn (8-4-4, 2-3-3) outshot Villanova 25-7 in the tie. Villanova goalkeeper
Hannah Dickinson saved all five of the Huskies' shot that landed on frame while Kaitlyn Mahoney made four saves on the other end of the field.
Three of Villanova's four shots on goal came in the first half.
Villanova's first scoring chances came in the eighth minute as Shumate fired a look from 25 yards out and into the hands of an awaiting Mahoney near the left post. In the 16
th,
Gabby Koluch took a shot from deep but her chance was saved near the right post.
In the 27
th minute,
Alex Little went one-on-one with Mahoney near the top right of the box. She made an attempt by Mahoney was able to land on it. The last scoring chance from either side in the opening 45 came from Chioma Okafor at the 43-minute mark. Okafor raced down the outside left of the 18-yard box and sent a look in that Dickinson jumped on top of, leaving it scoreless at the break.
Villanova held a 3-1 shot on goal advantage in the first period but was outshot 7-4 in that span.
Dickinson was called upon to make two saves in the first 20 minutes of the second half, corralling chances from Anaya Johnson and Abbey Jones. The only Wildcat to land a shot on goal in the second half was Shumate. She had a strong chance on a breakaway after a steal in the 68
th minute, but her shot went wide left. In the 84
th, she had an opportunity from the right side of the box to get an opposite look into the back left part of the net, but Mahoney grabbed it in air to end the threat.
Villanova is back at Higgins on Thursday for its final home game of the regular season, hosting Georgetown at 3 p.m.
