VILLANOVA, Pa. – A set piece goal by freshman Lyam MacKinnon (Lausane, Switzerland) in the second overtime helped lift Villanova to its fourth consecutive victory, a 1-0 verdict over Fordham (0-3-1 overall, 0-0 Atlantic Ten) on Tuesday at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
The Wildcats (4-0-0 overall, 0-0 BIG EAST) extended their scoreless string this season to 461:51, besting the previous program record established in 2010 of 459:15. Goalkeeper Carson Williams was in the net for all of that action and sets a new record for consecutive shutouts (five) by a Nova keeper dating back to a 1-0 victory over Seton Hall in the 2018 regular season finale.
The 4-0 start to the season matches the 2012 edition which also won its first four contests on its way to a program best 12 victories (the 1980 team also won 12 games).
Villanova prevailed despite playing much of the match without center back and captain Luca Mellor, who exited with a leg injury early in the second half and did not return.
"It was a team win," stated Wildcats head coach Tom Carlin. "We lost Luca there and Max Zandi came in and did a good job for us. Our back line and goalie kept us in it."
Indeed, Fordham enjoyed a 17-12 advantage in shots on the day and had two near misses in the first overtime period. In the 94th minute a bid from Sameer Fathazada rolled just beyond the left post and three minutes later Williams had to be alert to intercept a terrific cross from Jack Sluys that was headed toward Ram teammate Jacob Bohm.
Earlier, in the second half, the Wildcats' Evan Vare had fired a blast that caught the crossbar above the goal.
The game winning goal came off what was Villanova's second corner kick of the afternoon (Fordham had seven). The ball was sent into the scrum by Richie Schlentz and found its way to senior Shane Bradley. Bradley sent a the ball past a Rams defender to MacKinnon, who calmly deposited it into the net from six yards at 101:51.
"We weren't winning these games last year," noted Carlin. "I just saw (Zach) Zandi over there and he said 'we didn't have one of those last year.' He's right.
"This team believes and we're very bought in defensively. That's our backbone right now. We had some chances, some moments, glimpses of what it should be. Nothing was consistent. Lyam was there at the end."
Villanova begins a three-game stretch away from Higgins on Friday evening at Penn State. Villanova picked up a 2-1 victory over the Nittany Lions last season on its home turf on West Campus. Following that, the 'Cats will be at Maryland on Monday night (Sept. 16) and then open BIG EAST play on Friday, Sept. 20 at DePaul.
