The 2023 Villanova Women's Soccer season gets underway on Thursday, August 17 as Marist comes to town for a 4 p.m. first kick at Higgins Soccer Complex. This will be just the second meeting all-time with the Red Foxes. The last game between the two sides resulted in a 4-0 Nova victory on Sept. 7, 2001. The Red Foxes are coming off of a 5-7-5 showing in 2022. They are led by Preseason All-MAAC defender Samantha Sturno who was an All-MAAC First Team selection last season. The defender started in all 17 games, playing all 1,530 of the team's minutes in 2022.
Villanova is coming off of a 2022 campaign that brought the second-best BIG EAST record in the last five years and third-best in the last decade, going 3-5-2 in league action and 4-8-4 overall. The ‘Cats allowed just eight goals in BIG EAST action, the second-fewest for the program in the last decade. Villanova checked in at ninth in the conference’s Preseason Coaches' Poll that was unveiled last week with 33 points. Head coach Samar Azem welcomes back 17 Wildcats from last year's team and brings in 11 newcomers to the roster this season.
