Villanova University

March 27, 2004

Box Score

VILLANOVA, PA. - Villanova did it again with defense, cruising to an 8-4 victory over Drexel in the CAA opener for both squads on Saturday at Villanova Stadium. For the seventh time this season, the Wildcats held their opponent to six goals or less.

The Wildcat offense provided padding early as Eric Heidenberger and Matt Starker both scored in the opening two minutes of the game. David Cacciabeve found Brendan O'Donnell and then O'Donnell fed Richie Kratz as Villanova tacked on two more to lead 4-0 after the first period.

Then in the second quarter, Scott MacMullan tallied his second of the season to push the lead to 5-0 at 14:26. Sean Moloney got Drexel (3-5, 0-1) on the scoreboard two minutes later with an unassisted goal. Cacciabeve notched his second goal on the day to give the Wildcats a 6-1 halftime lead.

Villanova (7-1, 1-0) held the Dragons to just 10 shots in the opening half, with goalie Joseph Canuso only needing to make three saves through the first two quarters.

Marc Creegan registered both of the Wildcats' second half goals, while Drexel added three fourth-quarter scores to set the final margin. Matt Musci led the Dragons with three assists, as Yoni Cohen, Erik Haugen and Jarrett Mizzi each scored a goal.

In goal, Canuso totaled 11 saves and Drexel's Ryan Harney stopped 10 shots. With today's performance, Canuso's goals against average dropped to 5.72.

The Wildcats also dominated on face-offs, with Matt Lucas and Chris Colliniates combining to win 11 of 16 draws.