Sept. 30, 2005

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Freshman midfielder Erin Hardiman (Galloway, N.J.) headed a ball into the right side of the net for her first collegiate goal, and Villanova (6-3-3, 2-0-2 Big East) settled for a 1-1 tie on Friday night against Syracuse (2-5-4, 1-0-3 BE) at SU Soccer Stadium.

The Wildcats, who owned a 17-7 edge in shots for the game, had several chances to attack in Orange territory after Hardiman's goal tied the game, but could not find a winning combination as the clock ran out in regulation and two successive overtime periods.

Villanova trailed 1-0 at halftime but managed 10 of its 17 shots after the intermission with heavy pressure on the offensive end. The Wildcats brought the ball into the attacking third just over 11 minutes into the second period, and a free ball in the air on the right side of the box was headed into the net by Hardiman at the 56:16 mark.

Villanova found itself trailing at halftime for the fourth time this season but salvaged the tie by playing scoreless defense after the intermission for the third time in those four occasions. Junior goalkeeper Jillian Loyden (Vineland, N.J.) had five saves to lead a defense that has surrendered just two goals over the last 500 minutes of play.

Syracuse had taken a 1-0 lead with 4:32 remaining in the opening half when Sheila Menz lofted a ball into the middle of the goal on a pass from Lauren Jentzen. Orange goalkeeper Emily Kowalczyk registered five of her nine saves in the first period to help keep the Wildcats at bay until Hardiman's goal.

Villanova returns to action on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. contest at St. John's.

NOTES: The Wildcats have not been undefeated through their first four games against Big East teams since the 1999 season ... Villanova has never gone undefeated through its first five games in a season against conference teams ... The Syracuse goal in the first half ended a scoreless streak of 336:28 for the Wildcat defense ... Villanova had not allowed a goal since there were 6:00 left in regulation against Arizona State on September 16 ... The Wildcats have a 0.45 goals-against average in conference games ... Villanova held the opposition to fewer than 10 shots for the fifth time ... The Wildcats are 0-2-2 this season when trailing at halftime and 0-6-3 in those situations over the past two seasons ... In seven of the nine games it trailed at halftime in that span, Villanova has played scoreless defense in the second half ... The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 14-4 after halftime this season ... Two-thirds of the team's goals since the beginning of the 2004 season (32 out of 48, 66.7 percent) have come after the intermission ... Syracuse has played to a tie in each of its last four outings ... Villanova will go into its game against St. John's in fourth place in Division B ... Georgetown (3-0-1) is in first place with 10 points, while Louisville and Notre Dame (both 3-1-0) have nine points ... The Wildcats (2-0-2) have eight points.