VILLANOVA, Pa. – After a near 10-month wait, the Villanova Wildcats are set to play a regular season game again. The 'Cats – who closed out the 2018 regular season with a 1-0 victory over Seton Hall on Oct. 31 – open the new campaign on Friday at 4 p.m. against the Delaware Blue Hens.
The match will be streamed live from the Higgins Soccer Complex on Villanova's West Campus via the Nova Nation All-Access Pass at villanova.com. Nick Mantegna will have the call.
These two teams opened the 2018 campaign in Newark, Del. A late goal from Zach Zandi helped lift the Wildcats to a 1-0 victory over the Blue Hens.
Zandi has moved on to the Philadelphia Union but the Wildcats remain optimistic about 2019. An intriguing blend of experienced holdovers – senior defenders Shane Bradley, Andres Camacho and Luca Mellor anchor the defense in front of goalkeeper Carson Williams – has been augmented by an exciting crop of newcomers.
"Delaware is very aggressive," notes Wildcats head coach Tom Carlin, who begins his 12th season at the helm of the Villanova program. "They like to send all kinds of numbers forward. They force you to deal with them defensively. It's an attacking style that you have to be ready to defend."
The Wildcats did their best work at home in 2018, posting a 6-2-1 mark at the Higgins Soccer Complex. They hope to continue that pattern in the new season when they will host nine of their 18 regular season matches there.
One of the first tasks for the 2019 Wildcats is constructing a fresh look in the absence of Zach Zandi, who was the piston that drove the VU engine cylinder the past three seasons.
"The number one adjustment that we're dealing with is life after Zach Zandi," Carlin states. "We thought we were going to be bringing in a transfer to that spot but it didn't work out. So now we're trying to find other ways to create the tempo and fluidity Zach brought.
"I feel like out ability to stretch a back line, to get past a back line, is better than it's ever been. That's exciting. We're hoping Theo (Quartey) can emerge in that area of the midfield and we'll do some different things tactically than we did when Zach was here. Theo will have some of those same responsibilities and we're going to use Conor Bradley in more of an attacking role than he's played in the past."
Friday's opening match kicks off a busy stretch for the 'Cats, who will face six games in 18 days before facing DePaul in Chicago on Sept. 20 in the BIG EAST Conference opener. Villanova is on the road Tuesday at William & Mary.
