Sept. 10, 1999

University Park, Pa. --- The Villanova men?s soccer team traveled to Penn State University today to take on the nationally-ranked Nittany Lions in soccer action. The powerful home team jumped out to an early lead and held on for a 6-3 victory.

Just 3:25 into the game, Penn State?s Ryan Miller opened the night?s scoring with a long shot that got past Villanova goalkeeper Matt Malek, making the score 1-0 in favor of the home team. Exactly 12 minutes later, the Nittany Lions added to their lead with a goal off of a rebound. Down 2-0, the visitors from the Main Line were not discouraged as senior forward Dave Francalangia took a pass from senior co-captain Conor Porter and netted the Wildcats first goal of the contest and his second of the season. 2-1, however, would be as close as the valiant Wildcats would get, as Penn State ran off three more unanswered goals in the first half to make the score 5-1 at halftime.

?Nova tried to come back in the second half, outscoring the Nittany Lions 2-1. Junior co-captain Joe Noonan scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season from an assist by Francalangia, and senior forward Donovan Hornsby netted his third goal of the year. Yet Villanova just could not seem to stop PSU?s Ricardo Villar, who tallied a hat trick on the day, and the game ended 6-3.

The Wildcats, 1-3 on the season, play their next game on Friday, September 17 at home versus Big East foe Providence College, game time is 3:30p.m.