VILLANOVA, Pa. – The BIG EAST's top two teams went to battle on the Main Line Wednesday afternoon with Villanova and Xavier both leaving with a point on the table, drawing 0-0 at Higgins Soccer Complex.
The scoreless stalemate brings Villanova (8-0-4, 3-0-1) to nine clean sheets on the season, matching the mark set by last year's team. The Wildcats maintain the unbeaten momentum they've built on the year, still without a loss in the 2026 campaign.
This is also the first time Villanova has held Xavier (8-2-2, 2-0-2) without a goal since a 1-0 victory back on Sept. 29, 2019 and just the third time overall. The draw is the first in the series with Villanova now trailing 4-9-1 overall after snapping a six-game losing streak against the Musketeers.
"We've been in the gauntlet," head coach
Samar Azem said. "We took a trip to Omaha (to face Creighton), not an easy trip to take, and then we come in, we play Georgetown, a phenomenal team, then we've got Xavier. We're in the middle of midterms right now and for this crew, they don't do anything halfway, so they are full-on studying, they're full-on soccer, it's just one after another. We talk about DIG, it's about being gritty, it's about being dominant in being gritty and really rolling up your sleeves and getting to work every single, so tactically that was a big part of how the team played today."
Villanova trailed in shots 11-8, 2-1 for shots on frame.
Morgan Kotch had Villanova's lone shot on frame in the 24
th minute when she sent a chance from inside the top of the box but it was saved by Xavier's Taylor Thomas saved it.
Xavier's first shot on goal came in the 59
th minute from Kieran Bradley. She had a breakaway rip that was saved by
Hannah Dickinson near the right post. Later in the 77
th minute, the Musketeers were awarded a free kick that Brooklyn O'Brien took from well-above the penalty area. Her shot landed in the waiting arms of Dickinson in the middle of the net.
Isabelle Chukwu delivered one final solid chance for the 'Cats in the 84
th minute. She took control of the ball near midfield and bypassed a slew of Musketeers as she got into the box. The junior rocketed a one-timer toward the net that went just left of the net.
Bradley and Peyton Kohls led all players with four shots. In net, Dickinson's two saves in the clean sheet move her to seven solo clean sheets on the year and 21 in her time as a Wildcat. She is now one shutout away from moving into a tie for third in program history for career shutouts.
Villanova starts a stretch of three consecutive road games this weekend as it heads to Providence on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. from Providence, R.I.
