Box Score VILLANOVA, Pa. – A pair of first half goals, one by each side, led to a 1-1 Men's Soccer draw Thursday afternoon between Villanova (1-0-1 overall), and Iona (0-0-2) on a pleasant partly sunny day at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
 
After neither team produced much in the way of dangerous chances in the first 30 minutes of this one, the Gaels, the preseason favorite to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, began to find an offensive flow. Several quality chances ultimately led to a corner kick that put the Gaels on the board.
 
Calle Sjoberg sent a ball into the box that Emiio Rossi got a head on in a battle with two Wildcats defenders. The ball bounced across the goalmouth where Florian Schutt got a piece of the ball, knocking it past Villanova goalkeeper Sebastian Cutler DeJesus at 37:26.
 
Officials went to a video review and confirmed the goal.
 
But a mistake by Iona in its own end allowed the 'Cats to draw even at 42:49. With Villanova's Luke Martelli applying pressure, an Iona defender sent a low ball back to keeper Fernando Alves Schmelz. The ball eluded the keeper and resulted in an Iona own goal.
 
"Iona's a good team," stated Villanova head coach Mark Fetrow. "They use a lot of exchanges throughout the field. It makes it harder to defend. They gave us a good game. I don't think we played our best game. We were sloppy on the ball, and made some bad decisions.
 
"But we got a little bit of luck and came out of it with a tie."
 
Central to that effort was the work of Cutler DeJesus, who made four of his five saves in the second half. That included a game-saver in the 77^th minute that kept the match level under heavy duress from the Gaels.
 
"Sebastian is such a great leader for us," said Fetrow. "We have high expectations for him. We expect him to come up big for us in the key moments of the game. He did that again today and kept us in it. We feel comfortable that he keeps everyone at ease, keeps us organized and was able to make the big play when we needed it.'
 
Iona owned a 14-10 edge in shots on the day. Zach Miles led Nova with three shots while graduate student Michael teDuits added a pair.
 
The Wildcats will return to the Higgins Soccer Complex on Monday to host Philly Soccer Six rival Saint Joseph's at noon (Villanova Athletics YouTube channel).