SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Villanova could not connect one of its eight attempts with the back of the net, playing Seton Hall to a 0-0 draw to open BIG EAST play on Sunday afternoon at Owen T. Carroll Field.
This is the second draw for Villanova (3-4-2, 0-0-1 BIG EAST) in back-to-back games. The result marks three consecutive unbeaten contests with Seton Hall (3-5-2, 0-0-1 BIG EAST) and just the third time that the two sides have drawn.
The Wildcats outshot the Pirates by a large 8-1 margin with a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal. All three of those on frame came from
Susanna Soderman, marking a new career high. Both Soderman and
Gabby Koluch led all players with three shot attempts on the day.
"If I reflect back to my first year here at Nova, playing Seton Hall as our conference opener each year and I look at the team we were two years ago, the team that we were last year, the team we are right now, this team by far is the best team," head coach
Samar Azem said. "I mean, the way we played, the way the players defended, the way they moved the ball, the way they solved problems, it's extremely exciting. It's heartbreaking not to walk away with the three points and you've got to score to do that. You have to score to do that. When you have defensive units that are so strong, going on the road and getting three points is hard, but this team loves hard. This team makes hard normal, so the goal is just to learn from this."
Villanova had a pair of strong attempts to get an early lead in the first 20 minutes of action. Soderman and
Alex Little had a sequence deep in the penalty box in the fourth minute for the first real shot of the day. The senior sent a chance by the right post but it was saved by Seton Hall's Anna Prawer before Little tried to work a rebound look that was grabbed by Prawer to stop the threat.
Morgan Kotch followed that play with a rocket from the top of the 18-yard box in the 20
th minute that went wide right.
The Wildcats held a 4-0 shot advantage in the opening 45 minutes with Soderman accounting for both of the ones that landed on target. This was the fourth time this season that the 'Cats faced a scoreless stalemate at the break.
Seton Hall's first shot attempt didn't come until the 47
th minute when Natalie Tavana took an attempt that was saved by
Hannah Dickinson. Soderman struck again in the 64
th with a look on the left of the goal box, but her chance was once again collected, this time by Avery Strohecker who moved into net to start the second half.
Villanova finishes its three-game road stretch with a trip to Creighton on Thursday. First kick from Omaha, Nebraska is set for 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. CT.
