• Princeton is still in search of its first win of the season, recording draws in back-to-back games against Syracuse and Miami.
• The 2024 Princeton Tigers were the first team to win both the Ivy League regular season and tournament titles in the same year. They went on to fall to Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 1-2. This season, Sean Driscoll’s team was picked first in the preseason poll, garnering 16 first-place votes in the process.
• Princeton returned 23 of its 40 goals scored last season led by Alexandra Barry, Brooke Dawahare and Isabella Garces who scored four apiece.
• This year Princeton has scored at least a goal in four of its five matches played. Zoe Markesini leads the team with two goals scored, both coming in the first two games of the season.
• Nina Cantor has been the leading shot taker for the Tigers this season, landing eight of her 17 shots on frame. She has made at least three shot attempts in four of five contests with her season-high being six against Syracuse, placing four on frame that day.
• Cecilia Cerone and Sydney Romano have split time in net this season. Cerone has started in all five contests, going 0-1-2 with a solo shutout, making 11 saves and allowing eight goals in 43 shots faced. Romano is 0-1-1with one goal allowed and five saves in the eight shots she has faced.

• This will be the 25th all-time meeting between Villanova and Princeton since 1983, reigniting a matchup that was once an annual occurrence. The two teams have not gone to battle since 2019 with Villanova trailing in the all-time series at 7-15-2.
• Villanova has not seen a win over Princeton since a 2-1 result back on Nov. 14, 2003. Since then, the Wildcats are 0-7-2 against the Tigers.
• Road contests have resulted in a 3-7-2 standing for the ‘Cats in the series, currently in a seven-game stretch without wins at Princeton. The last road win in the series for the Blue and White was a 2-0 victory on Oct. 13, 1993. All three of Villanova’s wins at Princeton were 2-0 shutouts.
• Villanova is in the midst of a four-game winning streak, the longest active streak among BIG EAST teams. Those four shutouts matched the 2008 team’s streak and is the longest string of clean sheet wins since the 2006 pieced together seven in a row. The Wildcats have not allowed a goal in 403:26 minutes of action since August 21.

Facing the Ivy League: Villanova is 31-22-9 against the Ivy League all-time. This will be the second of three meetings with the Ivy League this season after the Wildcats opened their current winning streak with a 1-0 win over Columbia on August 24. After this meeting with Princeton, the ‘Cats will head to Philadelphia on Sunday to face Penn. This will be the eighth time Villanova has faced an Ivy League team in fourth-year head coach Samar Azem’s tenure, going 2-1-4 in that time. The ‘Cats have built a five-game unbeaten streak against the league since 2022 with three draws and two wins in that span. The only non-draw result against the Ivy League with Azem at the helm was a 1-2 loss at Cornell on Sept. 4, 2022.

Curtin Call: Graduate forward Hannah Curtin has made an impact on the Wildcats scoring since joining the team this season, leading the 'Cats with three goals thus far, all in game-winning fashion for a BIG EAST best tally. She has earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll in back-to-back weeks. Her shot accuracy is third in the BIG EAST through six games at .600, landing six of her 10 shot attempts on frame.

4 What It’s Worth: Villanova posted a 4-0 win over Lehigh on September 7, matching the most goals scored in a single game by the Wildcats in Samar Azem’s tenure. The last time was in a 4-0 win over Temple in the 2024 campaign.

Consistent Cardo: Sophomore midfielder Amalia Cardo has provided a consistent push for the Villanova offense through the first six games, accounting for at least a point in five of those contests. She scored a goal against Michigan in the season-opener and has since gone the last four games with three assists and a goal all in consecutive matches. She currently has the longest scoring streak by a Wildcat since Chloe O’Neill had at least one point in seven straight to open the 2021 season.

Villanova 4, Lehigh 0 | September 7, 2025 - Villanova, Pa. - Higgins Soccer Complex

First half scoring came up big for Villanova on Sunday. Four different Wildcats found the net in the win over Lehigh to match the most goals scored in a game during the Samar Azem era. The last 4-0 result came against Temple last season. Hannah Curtin, Avrie Nelsen and Amalia Cardo each had two-point games with their respective goals while Alex Little had a pair of assists. Morgan Kotch led all players in scoring, netting her second goal of the season and tapping in an assist. Curtin started the scoring in the 15th minute with a timely rebound inside the box, sending an open ball into the back of the net. Two and a half minutes later, Nelsen punched in her second goal of the year for a 2-0 lead. Cardo added to her scoring run in the 33rd minute with a goal that brought her to four consecutive games with at least a point. Kotch closed out the scoring in the 43rdminute thanks to a miscue from the Lehigh defense. She sent a rocket toward the net that was hit by a Lehigh defender for the final goal. Hannah Dickinson and Allie Vincent collected a combined shutout in the win with a total of four saves.

Read the full recap here.