Sept. 4, 2009

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DAVIDSON, N.C. - In its first road game of the season, Villanova (3-0-1) made itself feel perfectly at home on Friday night and defeated Davidson (1-3) at Alumni Field by a score of 4-1. The Wildcats scored three of their goals in a span of five minutes in the first half and got all four tallies from different players.

Sophomore forward Megan Verdeur (Levittown, Pa.) and freshman forward Heidi Sabatura (Lawrenceville, N.J.) each had a goal and an assist for Villanova, which scored on two of its first three shots on the evening and needed only 11 shots total in the game to register the four goals.

The Wildcats have put an emphasis on being able to capitalize on the scoring chances they get. They executed that plan to near perfection against their mascot namesake on Friday night.

Neither team got off a shot while trading possessions in the first 20 minutes of the contest before the action started to pick up with Villanova in control. The Wildcats were awarded successive corner kicks, the second of which created a scramble for control of the ball. Verdeur was the first to get a steady foot on it and knocked in her first goal of the season at 21:29.

Another trend developing for Villanova in the early season is that once it scores a goal the players tend to pick up their aggressiveness even more. The Wildcats started to get the better of the offensive chances after the first goal and senior midfielder Erin Byrnes (Sayville, N.Y.) capitalized on a wide open shot for the second goal of the night at 24:05. Verdeur passed the ball across the box and Byrnes was unmarked near the top of the 8-yard box.

In the 27th minute, sophomore forward Katie Ryan (Wayne, N.J.) capped the barrage directed at the Davidson goal by drilling home a shot for her fourth goal of the season. Her long blast curled under the crossbar at 26:36 after a long feed from Sabatura from the midfield up the left side.

By the time Ryan extended her individual goals-scored streak to four games, Villanova had converted four of its six shots into goals. Before the goal by Verdeur started it all, the initial corner kick taken by Byrnes led to a shot from freshman defender Alexa Carugati (Newtown, Pa.) that was blocked, setting up the second corner kick. The team placed five of its seven first-half shots on goal.

Sabatura scored her third goal of the season in the 61st minute when she chipped in a rebound at the left goalpost to make the score 4-0 at 60:53. The play was set up when Ryan dribbled up the right side into the 18-yard box and took a shot that was deflected by Wildcat goalkeeper Jessie Baxa, with the rebound bouncing to Sabatura.

While the offense continued to roll along - Villanova has scored 12 goals through its first four games - the defense stifled Davidson for most of the evening as well. It wasn't until the 68th minute that senior goalkeeper Molly Williams (Hinsdale, Ill.) needed to make her first save of the contest. Allison Drutchas had a good look at the net but was far enough away that a hard shot near the right post was easily stopped by Williams.

The lone score for the host Wildcats was a late tally in the 88th minute scored by Kyri Bye-Nagel, whose shot from the top-right corner of the box sailed into the upper corner of the goal at the far post, unreachable for freshman Kelsey Quinn (Mt. Airy, Md.), who spelled Williams in the closing minutes.

As impressive as the early goals were, Villanova nearly entered halftime with an even bigger lead. Late in the 35th minute a shot by Byrnes hit the right goalpost, a follow-up attempt by junior forward Justine Wollner (Downingtown, Pa.) was saved and an attempt at a third-straight shot was turned back. Baxa finished the game with four saves.

The Wildcats next play on Sunday afternoon when they visit Charlotte at 1 p.m. The 49ers were an NCAA Tournament team out of the Atlantic 10 Conference last season and defeated Francis Marion, 7-1, on Friday night.

NOTES: Villanova snapped a six-game winless streak (0-5-1) in games played away from home ... The Wildcats have scored at least one goal in the first half in all four outings this season and own a 7-0 scoring edge in the opening period ... The team is 72-2-5 (.943) since 2000 when scoring a first-half goal and 108-1-6 (.965) since 1999 when scoring the game's first goal ... Villanova's last true road win was a 3-2 win over Penn last season on September 12, 2008 ... The four goals scored on the opponent's home field was the most since the Wildcats won at College of Charleston, 4-2, in the 2004 season opener on August 27, 2004 ... Villanova is 5-6 all-time in the state of North Carolina, including three straight wins ... This was the first-ever meeting against Davidson.