Oct. 3, 2008

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VILLANOVA, Pa. - With a solid game from an opportune offense, Villanova (9-3, 2-2 Big East) breached the stifling defense of St. John's (4-3-4, 0-2-2 Big East) and registered a 3-0 victory on Friday afternoon at the West Campus Soccer Complex. The Wildcats posted their second consecutive shutout win in conference play in the second outing of a five-game homestand.

A pair of goals in the middle of the first half that came just under six minutes apart allowed Villanova to play with the lead the rest of the way and the team's surging defense did the rest against a Red Storm team that had surrendered just three goals the entire season.

Sophomore Rachel Schuyler (Cheshire, Conn.) scored on a corner kick at 14:50 to get the offense going when her kick from the right side went untouched in a crowd before curling into the top right corner of the goal.

Villanova maintained possession inside St. John's territory for a long period in the first half and Schuyler's goal came on a second corner kick just moments after she sent a ball in from the corner that was deflected over the goal line by the Red Storm. The Wildcats had six corner kicks in the first half and a 7-2 advantage for the game.

St. John's was met with a challenge on every attempt it made to clear the ball and in the 21st minute sophomore Justine Wollner (Downingtown, Pa.) intercepted a punt by Red Storm goalkeeper Kristin Russell that led to the game's second goal. Wollner played the ball ahead to Schuyler, who passed to sophomore Megan Verdeur (Levittown, Pa.). Verdeur scored her fourth goal of the season from point-blank range just in front of the net.

Russell had four saves in goal in the first half before yielding to Rebecca Capinera in the second half. Capinera had five saves and St. John's had a pair of team saves as well as it took a team-wide effort to prevent Villanova from adding to the three goals it scored.

A fast-break opportunity developed for the Wildcats in the 72nd minute with freshman Kaitlin Ryan (Wayne, N.J.) and junior Grace Hawkins (Northport, N.Y.) racing downfield with the ball. Ryan slid a neat pass to Hawkins as Capinera charged out to try and intercept the ball but Hawkins' shot was stopped from going into the net at the last second by a Red Storm defender.

That sequence proved to foreshadow how the final segment of the game would be played, as a number of similar chances presented themselves for Villanova in the waning minutes. Ryan was involved in every one of those scoring opportunities and fired off five shots in the last 14 minutes of the game. Her series of attacks began with a shot that hit the post in the 77th minute and continued with another attempt that was saved by Capinera at 83:44.

Ryan finally put a ball into the back of the net at 88:30 to close the scoring, but even that tally - her team-high sixth goal of the season - did not come easily. Senior Erin Hardiman (Galloway, N.J.) delivered a pass near midfield that Ryan received as she began another run into the attacking third. From near the right goalpost, Ryan got past Capinera, had an initial shot deflected by a defender, a second shot saved by Capinera and finally a third kick that bounded into the net.

The Wildcats outshot St. John's 22-9 for the afternoon, including a 14-4 edge in the second half. The Red Storm were not without their scoring chances however, but were held at bay for the third straight game. Trailing 2-0 late in the opening period, St. John's nearly broke through for a goal on back-to-back chances. However, a shot by Brittany Cavarra at 36:37 hit the left goalpost and a rebound shot by Kaitlin Haas was redirected by Villanova junior midfielder Jessica Carnevale (Princeton, N.J.), who stood in the way of the ball reaching the net.

Junior goalkeeper Molly Williams (Hinsdale, Ill.) posted her second straight shutout and fourth of the season, making two saves of her own. After a three-game sequence in which the Wildcats allowed 10 goals to the opposition, Villanova has recorded back-to-back shutouts in which it has outshot its opponents 44-18 and given up just five total shots on goal.

Next up for the Wildcats is a game against Syracuse on Sunday at 1 p.m.

NOTES: St. John's made its first trip to Villanova since 2002 and the teams met for the first time since playing to a scoreless draw in Queens in 2005 ... The Wildcats lead the all-time series 13-3-2 ... Villanova scored in the first half for the fifth time this season ... The team has won 16 straight games and gone unbeaten in its last 24 games when it scores at least once in the first half ... The streak dates back to the beginning of the 2006 season ... Overall, in games where the Wildcats score the first goal of the game, the team is unbeaten in the last 108 games (103-0-5) since late in the 1999 campaign ... Hardiman has registered an assist on three of Ryan's goals this season and leads the team with nine helpers for the year ... She needs just one more assist to tie the team's single-season record of 10, which has been achieved by three different players ... The Red Storm defense was ranked No. 2 in the nation entering the game ... Villanova has not played Syracuse since the teams' tied 1-1 at Syracuse in 2005 ... The last trip by the Orange to Villanova came in 2003 and resulted in a 3-2 win for the Wildcats, who lead the all-time series 5-1-1.