VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova and Bucknell battled to a 0-0 draw on Thursday afternoon at Higgins Soccer Complex.
The result marks the sixth clean sheet for Villanova (4-0-2) this season but just the second time it has been held scoreless. The last time was against Syracuse in the season opener on August 13, also facing a 0-0 draw in that contest.
Villanova led Bucknell (3-5-1) in shots at 15-7, 8-2 for shots on goal.
Morgan Kotch was the leading shot taker for the 'Cats with seven chances, five of those on frame. With the clean sheet, graduate goalkeeper
Hannah Dickinson now has 18 in her Villanova career, giving her the fourth-most in program history as she bypasses Lynn McHale who had 17 from 1984-87.
"I have to give credit to Bucknell; they came in fearless against us and that's something we pride ourselves on, is to be fearless, and Bucknell went at us toe-to-toe," Villanova head coach
Samar Azem said. "They made things really difficult, and I think we have a lot of work to do."
The Wildcats attacked quickly as Kotch pick up a deflected ball in the second minute near the top of the 18-yard box. She attempted a one-timer that went directly at Bucknell's Sarah McFarland for an early save. The junior striker had chacnes in the 21
st and 24
th minutes but both were saved by McFarland.
Bucknell's first real scoring chance came in the 43
rd minute. The Bison picked up a breakaway play near the midfield that saw a long ball be sent toward a darting Riley Hayes near the top of the box. With two Wildcats near her, she sent a shot that was pocketed by Dickinson, keeping the game scoreless heading into the break. That was the only shot Bucknell tallied in the opening frame, trailing shots 10-1 by that point.
The Bison started to press more in the early parts of the second half, attempting three shots in the first 15 minutes of the frame. In the 81
st minute, the Bison had open space in the middle of the field that gave them room to get the ball to Ashley Kozlowski at the top of the penalty area. She sent a left-footed shot that was easily grabbed by Dickinson near the right post.
Villanova was awarded a free kick in the 83
rd minute that
Meredith Palmer lined up to take. The junior defender sent a long chance in from near the midfield circle that McFarland easily grabbed in the middle of the penalty area. Just two minutes later,
Avrie Nelsen chased down a cross that she ended up sending into the 18-yard box, but it was also saved by McFarland to keep the contest level.
The last chance Villanova saw came in the 89
th minute on another play spurred by Nelsen.
The sophomore sent a great cross into the box that
Kaydee Amorosa headed, but McFarland made a one-handed diving save to keep it out.
Villanova now turns its attention to next Thursday's meeting with Delaware. Kickoff on September 17 is set for 4 p.m. at Higgins Soccer Complex.
