April 18, 2008

Box Score

TOWSON, Md. - Just when it seemed that the two sides were destined to play neck and neck lacrosse for the entire evening, Villanova (5-8, 3-2 CAA) scored three unanswered goals in the fourth quarter and defeated Towson (4-8, 3-3 CAA), 7-4, on Friday night at Unitas Stadium. The victory puts the Wildcats in excellent position to clinch one of four spots in the conference tournament later this month.

Nobody will say that Villanova doesn't play close games - not after the team's two most recent contests went to double overtime and not after the score of tonight's game was tied at the end of the first, second and third quarters. A third straight game with extra time seemed like a real possibility until junior Tim Driscoll (Montville, N.J.) scored the eventual game-winning goal with 10:20 remaining in regulation.

Sophomore Mark Scioscia (East Hampton, N.Y.) tacked on the next goal with 5:29 to play and junior Tim Langan (Madison, N.J.) netted the backbreaker with 4:17 left to seal the Wildcats fourth win in the last five games.

Villanova was credited with just three shots in the fourth quarter but scored on all of them to knock the Tigers out of postseason contention. The Wildcats were actually outshot 35-19 in the game but made the most of both their own scoring opportunities and the stifling play of the defense and junior goalie Andrew DiLoreto (Wilton, Conn.), who had 12 saves.

Each team scored once in the first quarter, once in the second quarter and twice in the third quarter before the pendulum swung all the way over to the Villanova side. The Wildcats trailed just one time in the game, when a goal by Towson's Timmy Andre gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead with 8:13 to play in the first half.

The first three Villanova goals came from the stick of sophomore Paul Webber (Manhasset, N.Y.), who also had an assist to continue his strong play of late. He opened the scoring with 5:47 left in the first quarter and Towson tied the game 1-1 with 2:26 remaining in the period.

In the second quarter, Webber answered the goal by Andre with 2:57 to play to send the teams into halftime knotted at 2-2. After the intermission, Webber and Driscoll scored goals three minutes apart to five the Wildcats a 4-2 lead midway through the third period, but the Tigers received tallies from Brock Armour and Jonathan Engelke to once again pull even. Engelke's game-tying goal came with just 12 seconds left in the period.

Webber's four points were a game high and Driscoll registered his eighth multi-goal game of the season.

Engelke finished with two goals for Towson, while Tiger goalie Billy Sadtler made six saves.

Towson won 13-of-15 face-offs in the game and was successful on 19-of-20 clearing attempts and the team had plenty of scoring chances with the 35 shots fired. The back line that included starters Eddie DiDonato (Blue Bell, Pa.), Bryan McCartney (Doylestown, Pa.) and John Lade (Randolph, N.J.) was up to the challenge and DiLoreto had another strong game in goal. He had four of his 12 saves in the fourth quarter to keep the Tigers from continuing the seesaw nature of the game.

The win marked the first ever for the Wildcats against Towson. Villanova had previously been 0-16 against the Tigers, with at least a few of the losses coming in excruciating fashion. Last season at Villanova Stadium, the Wildcats nearly completed a five-goal rally in the fourth quarter before falling 6-5. In 2005, Towson won a four-overtime game at Villanova and then pulled out a 5-4 win over the Wildcats in the conference tournament.

Villanova plays its final regular season game at home next Saturday against Drexel at 7 p.m. The game will also be Senior Night at the stadium as the Wildcats honor their senior class prior to the group's final regular season home game.

NOTES: In his first seven gamest this season, Webber had a total of three goals and two assists ... Over his last five games he has tallied 15 goals and six assists ... Three of the first four Villanova conference games this season had been decided by one goal ... The Wildcats have now allowed six or fewer goals in a game six times this season, including in four of the last five games ... DiLoreto owns a 9.12 goals-against average and .517 save percentage for the year.