VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova opens the home portion of its regular season on Monday, Labor Day, against Northwestern (0-1-2 overall) at the Higgins Soccer Complex. Kickoff is set for a little after 1 p.m.
As part of the pregame ceremony, the Wildcats will welcome the newest member of their soccer family, Elwood Westhoff. Westhoff, a part of Team Impact, signed a letter of intent on Sunday and will be on the sidelines when this match kicks off on West Campus.
Team Impact matches children facing serious illnesses and disabilities with college athletics teams, creating a long-term, life-changing experience for everyone involved.
"Seeing Elwood when he comes out to practice is a lift for all of us," stated Villanova head coach
Tom Carlin. "What he brings to us isn't something you get out of daily life. It's so remarkable for us to have him be a part of it. We get more out of it than he does. Elwood is a shining light for us on a daily basis.
"Team Impact is an unbelievably well-run organization. I like to think as a college athletic team we can provide an air of positivity when its . And having Elwood here makes a difference for our guys each day is just a really cool thing."
The battle of the Wildcats is a rematch of a contest played last October in Evanston, Ill. Villanova's 'Cats prevailed 2-0 with
Kent Dickey posting the shutout on a rainy and windy late afternoon.
Lyam MacKinnon and
Luke Pompliano scored the Villanova goals that day.
Prior to returning to the Delaware Valley to join the Villanova staff in 2006, Carlin served as the associate head coach at Northwestern.
Northwestern earned a 3-3 draw with Chicago State in its 2022 regular season opener on Aug. 25 at home. It then fell 1-0 at Florida Gulf Coast. On Friday night, it played Loyola to a 0-0 draw in its most recent outing Friday night in Evanston.
Villanova, meanwhile, has been idle since getting a late goal from
Akinjide Awujo to forge a 1-1 draw last Sunday afternoon at Cal. The 'Cats opened the 2022 regular season with a 1-0 loss at Stanford on Aug. 25.
"We learned from an earlier California trip in our time at Villanova that giving the team some extra recovery after a trip out west is beneficial," noted Carlin. "We were purposeful in how we set this schedule up. Now, we're focused on being ready for Northwestern."
The Wildcats will hit the road again later in the week, visiting Yale on Sunday at 5 p.m., before returning to Villanova for a two-game homestand against NJIT (Sept. 14) and Providence (Sept. 17).
