VILLANOVA, Pa. – A busy month of October continues for the Villanova Wildcats on Tuesday afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex, as Columbia visits for a non-conference matchup that is set for kickoff just after 3 p.m. Flo Sports will carry the live stream of the contest.
Villanova will hold its annual Team Impact Day. Elwood Westhoff was adopted by the Wildcats two years ago and has been a visible presence around the team at training sessions and home games.
"Elwood is a key member of our team," stated Villanova head coach Mark Fetrow. "He displays our core values – attitude, effort, honesty, integrity – every day. We look to him as an example of someone overcoming adversity with grace by finding a silver lining with every obstacle. He is a beacon of positivity and we love having Elwood on our sideline."
On the pitch, the Wildcats (0-6-4 overall, 0-3-0 BIG EAST) are seeking to break through into the win column after a series of injury setbacks. That has forced head coach Mark Fetrow into a situation where he is mixing and matching his lineup. In Friday's 3-0 loss to BIG EAST rival Connecticut, Colby Raymond was spelled at forward by junior Foday Bangura, who has logged most of his collegiate minutes at back. (Injury kept another key forward, Vincent Petrera, on the sideline.)
"We were just trying something," Fetrow said. "Foday is such a great soldier for us and such a great team guy. We are just trying to find a role where he could have some longevity.
"We had talked in the beginning of the year about potentially giving him some minutes up top. Going to a two forward system gave us the opportunity to do that. Credit to him, he went in and did everything he could. I don't think I did a great job of setting him up for success by giving him enough reps at forward in training."
Tuesday's clash is just the second all-time meeting between the Lions and Wildcats. In 2009, Villanova picked up a 1-0 victory on its home turf on West Campus (then known as the Villanova Soccer Complex).
Columbia earned its first victory of 2024 (1-7 overall) Saturday with a 1-0 triumph over Yale.
Following this clash, Villanova returns to BIG EAST Conference action this weekend with its first every league duel with the University of Akron. The Zips are in their second season as an associate BIG EAST member in Men's Soccer and the two sides did not meet in 2023. Saturday night's game kicks off at 7 p.m.
