Prior to Monday's game the Villanova coaching staff encouraged its forwards to apply pressure to the opposing goalkeeper when he had the ball at his feet, even when the chance to knock it away from him seemed remote.
           Junior Fynn Lahrsen turned that nugget into his first goal of the 2026 regular season. It proved to be the difference in Villanova's second consecutive 1-0 win, this one over Saint Peter's Monday afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
           The moment came in the 12th minute as Peacocks' freshman goalkeeper Sebastian Heredia-Randan collected a seemingly harmless ball inside his own 18-yard box.
           "We watched a lot of film," stated Lahrsen. "Coach pointed out that the goalkeeper likes to use his feet. As I was in my sprint, I was thinking maybe I should slow down a little bit and see what he does. He tried to pull it behind his heel and I read it well. I got a little bit lucky with it. I took it with me and scored."
           Lahrsen picked up the ball and found himself in that rarest of soccer situations, alone with no one between him and the goal. He calmly dropped the ball inside the left post at 11:31 to put the Wildcats in front of the Peacocks, 1-0.
           "It's always great to score here in front of the home crowd," Lahrsen stated.
           Added Villanova head coach Mark Fetrow: "We've been talking to our forwards about running hard and not giving up on plays and creating press action to turn teams over. Fynn has taken it to heart. The first action he made created a goal that was important. I think we got a bit lucky on the play, but it doesn't happen if Fynn doesn't work hard."
           The early score offered a boost, but Saint Peter's (0-1-1 overall) kept it interesting throughout. Junior Alex Yagudayev – named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week earlier in the day – made five saves, including a couple of huge stops in the first half to post his second consecutive clean sheet.
           In the second half two shots off the boot of a Peacock player caught the left post but stayed out of the net.
           "I thought we gave too much up in terms of big transition moments," said Fetrow. "Saint Peter's did a good job of creating some troublesome moments for us in the box. But all in all, we've played for 180 minutes, and we didn't give up a goal. Yagu (Yagudayev) has been playing well, our center backs have been consistent but there is obviously a lot for us to improve on.
           "We want to be known as a great defensive team."
           Villanova had its own chances to add to its goal total, especially in the second half. Eleven of the Wildcats' 19 shots were at goal. Lahrsen was sent in with the ball towards goal in the final 15 minutes, but this time Heredia-Randan got the better of things, rushing out to make a sprawling save before Lahrsen could get a final touch on the ball. The Peacocks' keeper ended his day with 10 saves.
           "Now, we've just got to work on scoring on some of those chances we created," noted Fetrow.
           Of course, a 2-0 start to a season isn't to be taken for granted.
           "It's a good start – 180 minutes and we haven't given up a goal," said Fetrow. "That was our foundation. It's what we talked about all pre-season. We're getting more chances and need to be a little bit more clinical with our finishes.
           "We love being home at Higgins and we've done a good job protecting it early."
