September 21, 1998

Villanova Pa.--- Hosting the No. 16 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame on Sunday, Sept. 20, the Villanova University men's soccer team lost a heartbreaker 2-1 in overtime, as Shane Walton scored an unassisted goal just 14 seconds into the extra session. With the loss, the Wildcats' record drops to 1-5-0 overall and 0-4-0 in Big East Conference play.

Scoreless until the 31:35 mark of the first half, Villanova finally broke the game open as forward Dave Francalangia (Jr., New Britain, Conn., Berlin H.S.), took the ball in the middle of the field and snuck a shot past Irish goaltender Greg Velho from 15-yards out for his first goal of the season. With Wildcat junior goalie Matt Malek (Jr., Dearborne Heights, Mich., Detroit Jesuit) saving six shots to hold Notre Dame (4-1-1, 2-1-1) scoreless, Villanova went into intermission with a 1-0 lead.

The Wildcat defense was equally impressive in the second half, as Malek saved three more shots to give him nine in the game. At the 71:24 mark, Irish midfielder Matt McNew got the rebound off a direct kick and dished in off to Conor LeRose who scored his first goal to send the game to overtime tied 1-1.

Just 0:14 into the first extra session, freshman forward Shane Walton gained control of the ball off a Villanova turnover and drilled a shot past Malek to send the Irish home with a 2-1 overtime victory. Getting the victory in goal for Notre Dame was Velho, who saved five shots on the afternoon.

The Wildcats will resume their schedule on Wednesday, Sept. 23, as they travel to LaSalle University to play the Explorers at 3:30 p.m.

Goals: VU- Dave Francalangia (31:35) ND- Conor LeRose (71: 24), Shane Walton (90:14)

Assists: ND- Matt McNew (71:24)

Saves: VU- Matt Malek (9) ND- Greg Velho (5)