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VILLANOVA, Pa. ââ'¬" On a steaming late summer afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex, Villanova leaned on its firepower to rally to a 4-3 victory over Philly Soccer Six rival Drexel Tuesday afternoon. The Wildcats upped their record to 2-0 while the Dragons fall to 0-2 thus far in 2015.

"It wasn't exactly the quality we working looking for defensively," stated Wildcats' head coach Tom Carlin, "but this group's resiliency and work ethic carried us through. We got the goals we needed."

Senior Sean Sheridan scored two goals on the day, including the critical one to knot the match at three in the 81st minute. Junior Padraic McCullaugh notched game-winner off a cross from sophomore Christopher Bared at 85:52.

Villanova has now tallied seven goals in its first 180 minutes of soccer this season after posting a 3-0 win at Albany on Friday evening.

The Wildcats jumped out to the early lead on a day when the temperature soared to 93 degrees in the Delaware Valley after a nifty bit of teamwork near the top of the Dragons' 18 yard box. Sophomore transfer Miguel Polley dropped a pass to junior Max Kroschwitz, who then let loose a blast into the upper left corner of the net at 11:30.

But just over three minutes later, Villanova was whistled for a foul inside its own 18 yard box. Drexel's Francisco Palma converted the ensuing penalty kick and the match was deadlocked at one. It would remain that way the rest of the first half.

It was Drexel that struck next when Colin McGlynn fired a shot past the Wildcats' Will Steiner in the 64th minute to make it 2-1. But Villanova answered in the 69th minute off a set piece when Sheridan curled a ball over the Drexel wall and into the top shelf near the right post to tie the contest at 2.

A set piece gave Drexel back the lead in the 76th minute. A corner kick from McGlynn found Jameson Detweiler, who headed the deflection into the net to make it 3-2 in favor of the Dragons.

But the Wildcats weren't done and Sheridan was in the thick of matters in this instance too. Kroschwitz fired in a throw-in from along the right sideline. McCullaugh won a header and Sheridan was able to re-direct the flick past Tyler Afferbach in the 81st minute to the delight of the crowd at the Higgins Soccer Complex.

"Max always makes big throws," recounted Sheridan. "I knew that Padge would win the ball in the air and so I went to the back post and waited."

Villanova had one more surge left in it.

This time, it was Christopher Bared sending a brilliant cross from the right side through the box just as McCullaugh completed a run with 4:08 left in regulation play. He re-directed the ball into the net and the celebration was on. That was the final score of the day and allowed Villanova to emerge with the win.

"It's a big win," added Sheridan.

"Our seniors, including Seanie, Chris Hill, and Colton Bryant have been around this program for a long time," noted Carlin. "They've been warriors for us. And that resolve got us the result we wanted.

"We have to go back and watch the film. We'll look at some things we need to do better. But we've won two games and that's where we wanted to be at this point."

Next up for the Wildcats is a Saturday date against Delaware at the Higgins Soccer Complex. The action gets underway at 1 p.m.