Aug. 27, 2006

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes

On Sunday afternoon the Wildcats posted an impressive 4-0 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in their home opener for the 2006 season. Villanova scored two goals in each half and won its first home game for the 10th straight season since the arrival of head coach Ann Clifton. Following the game, Clifton and junior midfielder Kaley Guthrie (Ogdensburg, N.J.) talked about their impressions from the game.

Head Coach Ann Clifton

On her overall impression of the game: It was a nice game for us. We got a chance to play a lot of players and we won the game with players who didn't start the game. That shows the amount of depth that we have. Knowing that, it is now a challenge for us as a coaching staff to find the right mix. I think we have something special.

On the skill level of the team: Our off-season work has really made us a better team. Individually we were trying to improve our soccer skills and we have done that. We also brought in seven very talented freshmen that push us everyday too. It is nice to have this segment of our game in place so early in the season.

On Grace Hawkins: The only two things Grace needs to know are what time the game is and how many goals we want her to score. She is a fierce competitor in the bottom third and really presents some advantages for us at forward. She is still learning the game and that will come with time. We are very excited about where she is right now. She did some great things on the field today.

On substitutions of some of the team's regular starters: I think getting a chance to rest some of our players is going to make us that much better later into the season when it comes to the end of the year. Forwards just get beat up in the BIG EAST and it gives us that much more depth when we can put in a fresh player.

[Senior] Athena Yiantsos [Voorhees, N.J.] and [sophomore] Ali Foley [Short Hills, N.J.] gave us some speed up top which stretched the other team's defense. We did a better job of that in the second half. If we can get players like Ali and Athena some minutes or even a start here and there it presents some challenges to a team trying to defend us.

On the midfield play: Our midfielders did a great job today, especially Kaley Guthrie. She changed the game today with the things she did when she came in the game and was a true Wildcat today.

Junior Midfielder Kaley Guthrie

On her assist on Grace Hawkins' goal: We wanted to go at them with a lot of speed. We possessed the ball well in the final third. I was going at a girl and saw nobody behind her and Grace was making a run. I played the ball across two people on the ground and Grace had a nice finish on the goal.

On the plan of action against Fairleigh Dickinson: We wanted to come out and see how many goals we could get. Our plan was to go at them from the beginning of the game and to attack their midfield and back line as much as possible. We didn't want to play back so we just turned and went forward as much as we could.

On Villanova's midfield play: We have a deep midfield because players like me and [junior] Stacia Hartung [Rochester, N.Y.], [sophomore] Erin Hardiman [Galloway, N.J.] and Melissa Murowski have been playing together for two or three years. We have started to mold together and the expectation for us is to forward and go at people. We have very good attackers and we want to see what we can create for them.

On her collegiate experience thus far: I think what I have learned the most in two-plus years is that you have to bring it every day. Regardless of whether you are playing the best team in Division I or the worst team, they are still going to bring it. Even though we had a lead Fairleigh Dickinson never stopped playing today and they challenged us until the final whistle. You aren't always going to be at your best but you have to fight through that and bring it every day.

On starting the season with three games in five days: We just had a light practice yesterday to get loosened up. Tomorrow we will look at some things and plan some things for George Washington [Tuesday at 4 p.m.]. We will stretch and get some light ball work but it won't be anything heavy because we have to get our legs back about us for Tuesday's game.