• Wake Forest reached the National Championship match for the first time in program history in 2024, falling to North Carolina, 1-0, to cap a 16-4-4 season. It also finished the year second in the ACC with seven wins and 22 points.
• The Demon Deacons are off to a 2-0 start to the season with shutout wins over SMU, 2-0, and LSU, 1-0.
• This will be the third straight home game for the Deacs this year. Over the last five seasons, they have defended their home pitch inside Spry Stadium to the tune of a 32-5-6 home record. Their last loss on the home turf was to then-No. 1 Duke, 2-0, on Oct. 27, 2024, snapping a 15-game unbeaten streak at home spanning the 2023 and 2024 campaigns. Since that loss, that have strung together a five-game winning streak at home, outscoring opponents 14-1 in that span.
• In his 29th season at the helm, Tony da Luz brings back three key members of last season’s strong defensive unit that allowed just 16 goals all season - All-ACC Third Team goalkeeper Valentine Amaral and defenders Sierra Sythe and Dempsey Brown. Amaral tallied the best goals-against average in program history last season with a 0.69 showing and racking up an 11-3-3 record with six shutouts. So far, she has needed to make just four saves in 180 minutes of action on the year.
• The Deacs welcome 13 freshmen and three transfers to the team this season.
• Freshman Kylie Maxwell, a native of Langhorne, Pa. who also played with Villanova freshman Kayla Raghunandanan for the Philadelphia Ukranian Nationals, leads the team with three points on a goal and an assist so far this year, landing two of her five shots on goa

• Thursday marks the first road test for Villanova in the 2025 campaign, kicking off a nine-match road schedule that will take the team to seven different states. Under Samar Azem, the ‘Cats have gone 7-12-7 on the road, 3-2-3 last season with an 11-8 scoring advantage. They will play just two games away from Higgins Soccer Complex in the month of August.
• This is the first contest against a nationally-ranked squad for the Blue and White this season. Last year, Villanova played three teams in the top-25, falling in all three contests by a combined 8-0 margin: No. 1 Florida State, 0-2, No. 21 Xavier, 0-3, and No. 23 Georgetown, 3-0.
• Villanova is 1-3 against Wake Forest in the series that dates back to 1996. That long win came on Sept. 12, 2010 with the ‘Cats taking a 3-2 double overtime win at the Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational.
• This contest will be a homecoming of sorts for three Wildcats who hail from the Tar Heel State - Meredith Palmer (Waxhaw, N.C.), Elon Rutty (Charlotte, N.C.) and Olivia Neal (Wake Forest, N.C.). For graduate transfer Kate Dobsch, this will be a match that takes her back to her undergraduate Alma Mater who she suited up for in three seasons.

Against the ACC: This is the third straight season that Villanova is taking on an ACC opponent. All-told, Villanova is 18-47-3 against the ACC, falling in each of the last 14 meetings with teams from the league since 2013. Since taking the helm in 2022, Villanova is 0-3 against the ACC under head coach Samar Azem. Last year, the ‘Cats fell to then-No. 1 Florida State 2-0 and Wake Forest 1-0. Before 2024, the last meeting with the league was in 2022, opening the season with a 2-0 loss at Boston College.

Sophomore Strike: Sophomore midfielder Amalia Cardo scored the first goal of her career in the season-opening loss to Michigan on August 13. Her successful PK marked just the fourth game since 2022 in which a sophomore found the back of the net and the first in nine games for the ‘Cats. The last sophomore to score in a game was Gabby Koluch at Creighton back on Sept. 26, 2024. Before them, a sophomore had not tickled the twine since the 2022 season with two scoring in that campaign.

On the Open Road: Villanova is on the road nine times in 2025. The team was 3-2-3 away from the Main Line last season, winning those contests by an 11-8 margin. With head coach Samar Azem at the helm, Villanova has gone 7-11-7 away from the Main Line.

Michigan 2, Villanova 1 | August 14, 2025 - Villanova, Pa. - Higgins Soccer Complex

After taking a one-goal lead following a scoreless first half, Villanova had two goals scored against it in the final 13 minutes, falling to Michigan 2-1 on Thursday afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex. Villanova broke a scoreless stalemate in the 70th minute on an Amalia Cardo penalty kick. Michigan responded with two goals in a span of nine minutes late in the game to take the victory. Cardo’s goal came after a collision between Homan and Hannah Curtin at the six-yard box. Once the officials reviewed the play, they confirmed the penalty to send the sophomore to the spot. She sent a chance in that ricocheted off the right post and into the back of the net behind Homan for a 1-0 lead. That goal marked the first of her career. Michigan’s break came in the 78th minute on a corner kick from Campbell Jewell. Her inswinger bounced off of Hannah Dickinson’s fingers found the head of Elle Ervin inside the six-yard box for the 1-1 equalizer. Heading into the final five minutes with the score still level, Ella Jablinskey she slid a cross over toward the top of the 18-yard box to find Ervin who passed to a running Gabrielle Prych. She took a shot near the penalty spot that got by an incoming Dickinson and into the net for the game-winner in the 87th minute.

Read the full recap here.