Sophomore Josh Belluz scored for Villanova midway through the first overtime to help lift Villanova past St. John's 1-0 Saturday at Belson Stadium. The win is the first for the Wildcats this spring season and third on the Red Storm's home pitch since 2010.

            Villanova improves to 1-4 overall, 1-2 BIG EAST while the Red Storm drops to 3-2 overall, 1-2 BIG EAST.

            Wildcats' head coach Tom Carlin believed his team's effort Wednesday in what became a 1-0 overtime loss to Providence at Higgins Soccer Complex was a step forward for his side despite the defeat. Villanova carried that momentum to Jamaica, N.Y., where it had fallen to the Red Storm 4-0 in its most recent visit on Oct. 12, 2019.

            When they got to Queens, they quite literally ran into a 15-to-20 miles per hour headwind in the first 45 minutes of this one.

            "We had the wind in our face in that first half so we really weren't able to get much going on the attack," stated head coach Tom Carlin. "I think we saw our resiliency in that first half to survive it without giving anything up and then getting the wind at our back in the second half."

            Villanova did have a quality chance in the final minutes of the first half courtesy of a bid by freshman Dominic Cyriacks that just missed. But the Wildcats were stingy defensively, limiting the Red Storm to four first half shots.

            There was no score in the first 45 minutes.

            The Wildcats did their best to press the advantage of playing with the wind in the second half. Elan Koenig made a bid for the go-ahead goal that was saved by St. John's goalkeeper Luka Gavran.

            The game remained scoreless into the latter stages of the second period.

            "We changed our formation up to get more attacking players forward," said Carlin. "We wanted to press them when we had the wind with us."

            Villanova was unable to get the goal it needed but it had the advantage of getting the wind for the first overtime period. Midway through that stretch, the Wildcats hit pay dirt.

            Cyriacks brought the ball down the left side and found Lyam MacKinnon in the middle of the pitch. MacKinnon made a nifty move on a cutback and got the ball to Belluz, who buried the opportunity at 94:26 to put Nova into the win column.

            "I thought we had a breakthrough with our effort and attitude against Providence even though the result wasn't there," said Carlin. "We've told the guys that just because the result isn't there doesn't mean you aren't making progress. You need to keep chipping away and I thought they did that this week. I'm really proud of them."

Villanova returns to BIG EAST action on Wednesday when it again ventures up the New Jersey Turnpike, this time to face Seton Hall at 6:30 p.m.