Aug. 28, 2009

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Lehigh-Nebraska Box Score: Lehigh 3, Nebraska 1 (PDF)
Game Recap: Lehigh 3, Nebraska 1

VILLANOVA, Pa.--When the clock is winding down and the game is on the line, there is no better place for the ball to be than at the feet of senior defender Kelly Eagan (St. James, N.Y.), who scored her fifth career game-winning goal with just 1:04 left in the second and final overtime period to lift Villanova (2-0) to a 2-1 victory over Virginia Tech (1-1) on Friday afternoon in the Villanova Classic at the West Campus Soccer Complex. The first game of the day saw Lehigh defeat Nebraska by a 3-1 score.

Eagan's goal finished off a game-ending flurry of chances for the Wildcats, who were awarded a corner kick on the left side with approximately 1:30 remaining in the second overtime. Senior midfielder Erin Byrnes (Sayville, N.Y.) took the corner kick and put the ball in the center of the box. First, junior midfielder Rachel Schuyler (Cheshire, Conn.) got off a shot that was blocked and next sophomore forward Katie Ryan (Wayne, N.J.) had a good scoring chance deflected by a defender as well. The second rebound fell to Eagan just outside the box and she drilled a shot that caromed off the left goal post and into the back of the net.

"We can see that there is a different attitude from the team this year, that the players are prepared every game to do whatever it takes in order to grind out a victory," Villanova head coach John Byford said. "Erin Byrnes did a great job of keeping the ball in play to get us a corner kick at the end and Kelly Eagan came up big with the game-winning goal."

The game was closely contested and entertaining throughout but some of the best play from both teams came in the two overtime periods. Both teams took three shots in the second overtime and Villanova senior goalkeeper Molly Williams (Hinsdale, Ill.) registered two of her eight saves in the frame before the Wildcats secured the win. Williams saved a shot by Kelly Conheeney at the 106:17 mark that led to a corner kick and a subsequent shot by Jennifer Harvey that went high at 107:06. A foul called against Virginia Tech gave possession back to Villanova, which held the ball until being awarded the corner kick just over a minute later.

"Molly has a full year of experience as a starter under her belt now and that makes a big difference," Byford said. "Last year she was thrown into a starting role after playing just 120 minutes the previous two seasons. We are seeing now that she is more experienced and confident in the net and she made a great save on a free kick by Virginia Tech. In games like this you need 11 players and more out there and Molly did everything we could have asked of her today."

Villanova scored first in the 35th minute when junior forward Justine Wollner (Downingtown, Pa.) played a ball ahead to Ryan on the right side. Ryan capitalized on the scoring chance for her second goal of the season and a 1-0 lead. She and Schuyler led the Wildcats with four shots apiece in the game.

Sloane Levin tied the game for the Hokies in the 49th minute with her first goal of the season. Robin Chidester beat a Villanova defender and played a ball into the middle of the box from the left side, where Levin had an opening to even the score.

Virginia Tech owned a 20-16 advantage in shots, including a 10-5 edge in the second period of regulation. The Wildcats stood firm though, and turned back one chance after another to give themselves a chance at pulling out their second straight win.

"We knew that we had to expect Virginia Tech to put a lot of pressure on us and that we would need to try and defend them as best we could," Byford said. "In all fairness, we had a chance to be up 2-0 at halftime but instead it was 1-1 in the second period and we were pressing a little bit. Even if we had gone up 2-0 though, they wouldn't have been out of it. They are a quality team that would have hung around no matter what the score was."

There were stretched of the game where the Hokies had a clear advantage in controlling possessions, as their second period shot advantage indicates. Virginia Tech also held Villanova without a corner kick through all of regulation. Byrnes took successive corners in the 98th and 99th minutes in the first overtime period and from that point on it appeared that the Wildcats held their own against a team that had taken 31 shots in their season opener.

"Against good teams, there are less scoring chances that come your way," Byford said. "When you have fewer chances, it becomes even more important to put [those chances] away. Otherwise you can have a game where you dominate the play but if you don't put away your chances the outcome isn't the one you want. Katie Ryan did a great job to finish the chance she had in the first half on our first goal."

Conheeney and Levin each had two shots for Virginia Tech, which outshot High Point, 31-2, in its season opener last week. Goalkeeper Rebekah Brook made one first-half save for the Hokies.

Lehigh-Nebraska Recap: In the first game of the afternoon, Lehigh built a 2-0 lead with one early goal (11th minute) and another in the 55th minute. Nebraska countered with a score in the 67th minute but did not come up with an equalizer before the Mountain Hawks put the game out of reach with their third goal in the 87th minute. Nebraska owned a 19-12 edge in shots.

Sunday's Schedule: The Villanova Classic wraps up on Sunday at the West Campus Soccer Complex. Lehigh will meet Virginia Tech at 10 a.m. in the first game, followed by a 1 p.m. tilt between Villanova and Nebraska. That second game will mark only the second time in their history that the Wildcats have faced a team from the Big 12 Conference.