VILLANOVA, Pa. – After capitalizing on some home cooking through a four-game stretch at the Higgins Soccer Complex, Villanova heads back on the road as it returns to BIG EAST action Saturday night at No. 15 Georgetown (8-3-3 overall, 4-0-1 BIG EAST). The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
"We just want to be consistent with our performances," stated Villanova head coach
Mark Fetrow after his Wildcats improved to 5-4-5 overall with a 3-0 victory over VMI on Tuesday on VU's West Campus. "In all our Big East games we've tried to make it a priority to be great defensively first. Then get deep, create service and get shots. We want to go out and execute.
"We've had two decent results in our last two Big East games, against Seton Hall and Creighton. Now we have to go do it again. It's going to be fun to play Georgetown under the lights. This is our first opportunity to do that (at Shaw Field). We're looking forward to going out and competing to get three points on the road."
The Wildcats have been without an injured trio of lineup staples over the past few weeks: co-captain
Luke Martelli, midfielder
Luke Haggerty and defender
Cam Tolson. That's created opportunities for freshmen midfielder
Matthew Klann – who picked up his first college goal in the win over the Keydets – and forward
Joseph Margita, who logged a season-high 54 minutes and generated two shots on frame.
A total of 18 Wildcats saw action on Tuesday in a game the Wildcats (1-1-3 BIG EAST) controlled from the sixth minute on after a
Josh Oladele goal at 5:59. Assists leader
Michael teDuits was used for just 36 minutes while forward
Fynn Lahrsen logged 48 minutes. Oladele, who has made his presence felt over the past few outings, played 51 minutes on Tuesday.
Georgetown presents a significant challenge, of course. The Hoyas lead the BIG EAST East Division and have rounded into familiar form after dropping their first two matches of 2025 (one of which was to No. 4 ranked Maryland). They are 7-1-1 in their last nine outings and own a 31-6-5 all-time mark against the Wildcats.
Last season, the two sides played to a 3-3 draw at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
Villanova will have to contend with Georgetown senior Zach Zengue, who has amassed 12 goals and six assists in 14 games this season.
This is the first of four regular season matches remaining for Nova. Three of those will be against BIG EAST rivals. On Saturday, Nov. 1, the 'Cats will welcome St. John's to the Higgins Soccer Complex (noon/ESPN+) and they close out the regular season at Marquette on Friday, Nov. 7. A non-league clash vs. Holy Family is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 4 (2 p.m./ESPN+).
