VILLANOVA, Pa. – The hectic pace of the first month of regular season play continues for the Villanova Wildcats on Tuesday, when they welcome George Washington University to the Higgins Soccer Complex.
Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. The match will be live streamed via the Nova Nation All-Access Pass with Nick Mantegna describing the action.
The Wildcats just closed out a stretch of three straight road games with a 0-0 draw Friday at DePaul. Tuesday's duel with the Colonials (2-4-1 overall, 0-1 Atlantic Ten) will be Villanova's eighth since the campaign began with a 5-0 victory over Delaware on Aug. 30.
"When you look at our Fordham and Temple games vs. our DePaul game, the body of work that was put in Friday was of a much higher quality than those earlier games," stated Villanova head coach
Tom Carlin. "We obviously didn't get the key goals we got in those games, but we had more chances, had more of the play and were further along in our attacking schemes. To me, those are signs of us getting better.
"But we didn't get the win. We were satisfied with the battle the guys showed but upset we didn't get the three points."
Villanova (4-2-1 overall, 0-0-1 BIG EAST) returned to campus from Chicago late Friday evening and then took part in Villanova's Day of Service on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats helped serve dinner with City Team Philadelphia in Chester, Pa.
"It really is a testament to Villanova student-athletes and what this institution is all about," said Carlin. "Our players are in the grind of the season. After a flight back from Chicago they're doing their part in community service with an understanding of why they're doing it. I think it just unifies our purpose and sense of who we are. Any time you can take a step back from a chaotic schedule and see that, it's valuable."
The Colonials dropped a 1-0 decision in double overtime to Rhode Island Saturday in the Atlantic Ten opener for both sides. Senior Max Holdsworth leads G.W. with two goals and three assists. George Washington has registered six goals in seven outings, an 0.86 goals against average.
"G.W's a tough team, always tricky to play against," Carlin noted. "They'd like nothing more than to get a big road win and this is an opportunity for them to do that. We play similar systems and like us, they've been in a lot of close games. You watch their games and see that, in several of their losses, they've been the better team."
Villanova has recorded five shutouts in its seven games this season. Red-shirt sophomore goalkeeper
Carson Williams sports a 0.27 goals against average.
The Wildcats are looking to break through in the attacking third. Villanova applied heavy pressure on DePaul over the final 65 minutes on Friday afternoon in Lincoln Park but were unable to push one over the goal line. Among those who nearly picked up a goal were senior
Evan Vare, junior
Theo Quartey and freshman
Lyam MacKinnon.
MacKinnon leads Nova in scoring with two goals and three assists.
This non-conference battle leads into another important BIG EAST match on Saturday night. The Wildcats will journey to Omaha for a game at Creighton that gets underway at 8 p.m. eastern time. That match will be streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
