Sept. 1, 1999

Villanova, Pa. --- The Villanova University men's soccer team began the 1999 season in fine fashion today as they ousted Philadelphia Soccer Seven rival St. Joseph's 4-2 in front of a pleased home crowd.

In what was a physical game all afternoon, neither team could break through the stranglehold until 29:53 of the contest when Villanova finally found some passing room. A series of well placed passes put the Wildcats on the attack, and junior Joe Noonan (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) put home the ball off of senior midfielder Conor Porter's (Donegal, Ireland/Raphoe) assist. Just under three minutes later, Noonan struck again, this time off of a feed from senior forward Donovan Hornsby (Pietermaritzberg, South Africa/S.C. Spartanburg), making the score 2-0 in favor of the Wildcats.

The score would stay 2-0 going into the half, but St. Joseph's responded at 51:02 of the game when Brian Geary chipped the ball over senior goalkeeper Matt Malek's (Dearborne, Minn./Detroit Jesuit) head scoring the Hawk's first goal and trimmimg the lead to one. Hornbsy came right back, however, as he took a pass from Noonan, beat the defender, and smoked a shot from the top of the box that found nothing but the back of the net. At 67:43, Hornsby found the goal once again, this time on a header after taking a corner kick feed from sophomore Joe Caruolo (Berwyn, Pa./Archbishop Carroll).

Malek played well in net for the Wildcats, making four saves in his 81-plus minutes of work and giving up just the one goal. Geary scored again for St. Joseph's at 85:38 of the game after Malek had been subbed-out, capping the game's scoring. Junior defender Jim Curtin (Oreland, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) played his usual steady defense all day long, and the game ended 4-2 in favor of Villanova. The scoring for the 'Cats actually could have been even greater, but senior forward Dave Francalangia (Berlin, Conn./Berlin) was thwarted twice - once by the crossbar and once by the post.

The Wildcats next game will be at home against LaSalle University on Saturday, September 4, at 1:00 p.m.