Oct. 1, 2011
Final Stats
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Villanova Wildcats posted their second consecutive 3-0 victory tonight, defeating Seton Hall 3-0 in a BIG EAST match played here on a wet night. The `Cats evened their record at 4-4-2 overall, 1-1-0 in the BIG EAST. Seton Hall now has a 4-4-2 overall record, 1-1-0 BIG EAST as well.
The game was in its ninth minute when a pivotal sequence took place. Seton Hall forward Max Garcia was whistled for a red card at 8:53, meaning the Pirates would be forced to do battle a man down for the balance of the contest.
"When there's a red card that early, that's 80 minutes of being a man down for one team," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "The key for us was to just be patient."
Villanova's patience paid its first dividend near the end of the first half. Junior Ryan Whalen sent a ball to classmate Emerson Lawrence who capped his run down the right side with a shot that beat Pirates goalkeeper Mario DeClarico at 42:00 to put the Wildcats into the lead.
"Emerson did a great job all night," stated Carlin. "He gave us a nice push in the midfield and won a lot of battles."
The goal was Lawrence's fourth of the season and second in as many games. He capped the scoring on Wednesday night in the Wildcats' 3-0 win at Saint Joseph's.
Early in the second half, VU struck again when it took advantage of a corner kick. The ball was served into sophomore Dylan Renna, who found teammate Kyle McCarthy about 15 years in front of the net. McCarthy sent a blast past DeClarico to give the `Cats a 2-0 edge at 52:15.
Renna completed the scoring when he finished a play set up as senior Kevin Garcia made a run down the left side. Garcia found Renna 18 yards in front of the net. Renna's shot hit the crossbar and fell beyond the goal line at 61:56 to give VU a 3-0 lead.
"Garcia generated a lot of chances for us tonight," Carlin said. "He was outstanding and it was good to see Dylan Renna get his first goal of the season. He has worked so hard to come back after missing most of the last year."
Villanova has scored six goals in its last 180 minutes of soccer after enduring a five game stretch where its only two goals came on penalty kicks.
"Once you get one goal there is confidence that you will get more," stated Carlin. "We felt like we were generating good chances in that stretch where we weren't scoring so the key was persistence. We stayed with it and the results have come these last two games."
Senior John Fogarty made two saves in picking up the shutout in goal for the Wildcats. VU held a 12-5 edge in shots on the evening.
Up next for Villanova is a non-conference match at Lafayette on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. The `Cats then resume BIG EAST play on Saturday when they host DePaul at the Villanova Soccer Complex at 1:00 p.m.
"This is a big week for us," stated Carlin. "We got back to level this week and now we have to be ready for Lafayette and DePaul."
