Feb. 17, 2007

Box Score

Easton, Pa. - Villanova (1-0) clinched its first victory of the 2007 season with an 8-5 victory over Lafayette University (0-1). The Wildcats opened up the scoring with an early unassisted goal by Andy German. The senior from Wayne, Pa. capitalized on three of his six shots for the game to finish with a hat trick.

Although each team had a total of six shots for the first quarter, it was Villanova dominating on the scoreboard. German, senior Mike Haas, and junior Chris MacDonald combined forces to give the Wildcats a 3-1 advantage after the initial 15 minutes of play. Senior Paul Genevose also chipped in with an assist on the goal by Haas.

Momentum shifted in the second quarter as Lafayette edged Villanova in shots 11-7. Sean Burek and John Galassi were each able to sneak a goal past Wildcat sophomore goalie, Andrew DiLoreto. However, Villanova's freshman Mark Scioscia made the most of a pass from junior Tim Akins with just over two minutes left to make the score 4-3 heading into halftime.

Lafayette's Andrew Horton was able to tie the game up at four goals a piece within the first three minutes of third quarter. However, it was at this point in the game that the Wildcats took control as they went on to score four unanswered goals. Scioscia opened the floodgates off an assist from junior Jay Foley. German then went on to score back-to-back goals, the first being unassisted. His second goal of the half (third of the game) was off a pass from senior Eric Heidenberger. Just one minute later, Heidenberger got himself on the scoreboard by putting an unassisted goal past Lafayette goalie, Jeff Canfield.

Ray Shalley was able to notch one more goal for the Leopards with just over 13 minutes left in the game making the final score 8-5. Villanova held the advantage in total shots (29-27), groundballs (30-24), and face-offs (9-7).

The Wildcats will be back in action on Friday, February 23 when they take on the University of Pennsylvania at 3 p.m. in Villanova Stadium.