VILLANOVA, Pa. – Call it a holiday special.
For the second season in a row, Villanova will host a Labor Day men's soccer match at its West Campus home, the Higgins Soccer Complex. The kickoff for this one has been moved up to 11 a.m. due to the forecast of temperatures in the mid-90s. Michigan State (2-0-0 overall) will be the second consecutive Big Ten foe to visit the 'Cats on the holiday. Last season, Villanova knocked off Northwestern 4-0 on Labor Day before a packed house at Higgins.
The goal is to replicate that atmosphere against a Big Ten foe. This clash is a Student Bonus Lottery game, helping current Villanova students accumulate points that can be applied to men's basketball game tickets in 2023-24.
In addition, Villanova will recognize Team Impact and its Wildcats' representative
Elwood Westhoff.
"It's awesome to have Elwood with us for the second season in a row," stated Villanova head coach
Tom Carlin. "He's at practice, came up to be with us at NJIT and really is a big part of this program."
This will be Villanova's regular season home opener and the opportunity to play in front of the home crowd is welcomed. The Wildcats dropped a pair of decisions on the road to open the new campaign, falling at Albany 2-0 on Aug. 27 and at NJIT 4-1 Thursday night in Newark, N.J. The Wildcats got their goal just 13 seconds into the match in Newark, N.J., when
Balthi Saunders found
Vincent Petrera, who then blasted a shot into the upper part of the net.
"Michigan State is a great opponent for us to try to get this going in the right direction," Carlin said. "These are the kind of games we want to play in."
The Spartans came east on Thursday for a Friday night match at Army. A second half goal by Jonathan Stout in the 66
th minute lifted the Michigan State to a 2-1 victory at West Point. MSU picked up the win despite being outshot 13-8 over the course of 90 minutes.
This match kicks off a series of four straight for the Wildcats on their home pitch at the Higgins Soccer Complex. Fairleigh Dickinson will be on West Campus to meet Nova on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 1 p.m.
