Sept. 8, 1999

South Orange, N.J. --- The Villanova University men's soccer team traveled to New Jersey today to take on the Pirates of Seton Hall University for the first Big East Conference game of the 1999 season. Although their effort was that of a winning team, the Wildcats came up a bit short, falling to The Hall, 2-1.

The game was scoreless until Seton Hall got on the board. Pirate Brian Cuddy kicked a cross into the middle that preseason Big East Player of the Year Peter Scavo one-timed home, making the score 1-0 in favor of the home team. Less than six minutes later, however, Villanova junior midfielder Joe Noonan (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) dribbled through the entire Seton Hall defense and scored unassisted to knot the contest at 1-1. The game was tied going into the half and it remained that way until Seton Hall's Alim Ibragimov netted the go-ahead goal off of a rebound at 75:13 of the game.

Senior goalkeeper Matt Malek (Dearborne, Mich./Detroit Jesuit) made 10 saves in net for the 'Cats, but it just was not enough as the host Pirates took the game 2-1. Villanova's record on the year fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the Big East.

The Wildcats next game will be at nationally ranked Penn State University on Friday, September 10, at 7:00 p.m.