VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova got a crisply executed goal in the early moments of the second half and then held off pressure from NJIT to post a 1-0 victory over the Highlanders on Tuesday afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
 
Graduate student Michael teDuits served a perfect ball from the right side that found sophomore Karson Vazquez on a run and Vasquez redirected the ball past NJIT goalkeeper Devin Armstrong at 46:43.
 
The Wildcats then held off a series of challenges to post the win. Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Yagudayev made seven saves in net for the Wildcats, who leveled their record at 4-4-3 overall in this non-league affair played under partly cloudy and warm conditions on Villanova's West Campus.
 
"At halftime we just talked about defending our shape and being a little bit more aggressive to step out when we had chances to do so," stated Villanova head coach Mark Fetrow. "WE talked about when we were deep in our end to be collective with our decision making.
 
"I think that deterred them at times, but they still ended up with 23 shots."
 
The Wildcats were under constant heat over the first 45 minutes as the Highlanders posted a 12-4 edge in shots and 6-0 advantage on corner kicks. Yagudayev was forced to make five saves and NJIT had a couple of near misses.
 
The vibe changed when teDuits found Vasquez.
 
"That was just really good execution," noted Fetrow. "We wanted to be aggressive in the attacking third. That was our theme going into this game. We wanted to create more shots and more opportunities. We didn't do that. It was our only shot on target all game.
 
"But I'm proud of the guys for executing in that moment. It was big."
 
The Wildcats again played without starters Luke Martelli and Luke Haggerty.
 
""From the beginning of the year we have talked about that this is all about the team," Fetrow said. "Any result we have is going to be from a complete team effort. Guys are getting their numbers called and are having to step up and play a role. We had a number of guys do a good job of that, like Jasper (Zulman) coming in for Cam (Tolson) early in the game.
 
Next up for the Wildcats is a BIG EAST clash with Seton Hall. That contest will take place Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Higgins Soccer Complex (ESPN+).