VILLANOVA, Pa. – After getting back into the win column on Tuesday against a New Jersey based school (NJIT), Villanova has shifted its focus to another pillar of the Garden State, Seton Hall. The Pirates bring a 5-2-4 overall record (2-0-1 BIG EAST) into a match Saturday at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
As part of Saturday's matinee, the Wildcats (1-1-1 BIG EAST) will host their annual "Youth Day". Mascot Will D Cat will be on hand and there will be face painting and other kid-friendly activities leading up to game time. Following the game, the Wildcats will sign autographs just in front of the stands at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
Both teams earned non-conference wins Tuesday on home turf. Seton Hall posted a 5-0 victory over FIU at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange. The Wildcats got a picturesque goal from sophomore
Karson Vazquez – he re-directed a nice feed from
Michael teDuits with his head in the 47
th minute – to hold off NJIT and level their record at 4-4-3 overall.
The Wildcats withstood a 23-9 barrage from the Highlanders, thanks to some timely defensive work and seven saves by sophomore goalkeeper
Alex Yagudayev. That was a welcome effort in the wake of a 5-0 loss at Providence three days prior.
"Yagu is a brick wall back there," stated Villanova head coach
Mark Fetrow. "We really trust his ability to shot stop. We didn't like the feeling of that game at Providence. We have two excellent keepers with Alex and Seb (
Sebastian Cutler DeJesus) that help us win games.
"For us, the theme was that we wanted to get back to earning clean sheets. We wanted to get back to being organized defensively and limiting opportunities for our opponent. To get the clean sheet (Tuesday), was important. Now, we can go into the Seton Hall game feeling good about that part of it."
The Pirates have been stingy defensively thus far in 2025, allowing just 0.73 goals per game. Til Kauschke leads the Hall with four goals and two assists. This will be Seton Hall's third road game of the campaign (1-1).
For its part, Villanova will continue to lean heavily on its youthful roster. Of its top six in minutes played this season, four are new to Villanova (
Brody Crampton,
Zach Miles,
Sam Nyenka,
Fynn Lahrsen) and four are underclassmen (Crampton, Lahrsen, Miles, and
Lorenzo Avalos). Nova started four freshmen and three sophomores against NJIT.
Several other freshmen, including
Matthew Klann and
Joseph Margita, have seen their roles grow recently as injuries have forced stalwarts
Luke Martelli,
Luke Haggerty and
Cam Tolson to the sidelines.
Now comes the next test.
"Seton Hall has had a really good start to the season," Fetrow stated. "They've been good in Big East play. They're forward thinking, they're big and athletic, serve the box on set pieces. We've just got to maintain good fundamentals so that we can keep the ball for longer stretches and hopefully pin them in to create more chances. Those are things that we haven't done effectively the last two games. We've got to get back to what we were doing earlier in the year."
