Oct. 19, 2008

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Despite scoring the game's first goal on one of the nation's most stingy defensive teams, Villanova (11-5-1, 4-4-1 Big East) was unable to come away with a win and lost, 2-1, in overtime to No. 20 West Virginia (10-2-5, 5-3-1 Big East) on Sunday afternoon at Dick Dlesk Stadium. The goal scored by the Wildcats was just the eighth tally against the Mountaineers all season long.

This afternoon's result marked a role reversal of sorts for Villanova, which has proven so adept at rallies of its own this season. After scoring the game's first goal in the 64th minute, the Wildcats saw their hosts tie the score with 19 minutes left in regulation and then notch the game-winner just one minute into the first overtime period.

Sophomore Justine Wollner (Downingtown, Pa.) opened the scoring with her fourth goal of the season at 63:22. All four of her goals have been the first goal of a game and she capitalized on a failed clear by the West Virginia defense. The play began with freshman Kaitlin Ryan (Wayne, N.J.) racing up the right side and crossing a ball towards the front of the net. Mountaineer defender Robin Rushton attempted to play the ball out of the box but instead Wollner intercepted and kicked an easy shot into the right side of the goal.

Villanova withstood the first West Virginia attempt to tie the game in the 68th minute when Ryan was in position at the right goalpost to knock away a header attempt by Amanda Cicchini. The Wildcats were credited with a team save on the play as Ryan deflected a scoring opportunity.

It wound up being Cicchini that would tie the game just over three minutes later, however. She attempted to make a play at the top left corner of the box but the ball was blocked by a Villanova player. The deflection left Cicchini with a little extra room though, and she controlled the ball for a second before taking a shot that went just past the fingertips of junior Molly Williams (Hinsdale, Ill.) in the net.

Williams came up big during the remaining time in regulation to allow the game to go to overtime. In the 74th minute she stopped a point-blank shot by Erica Henderson with both hands and junior Kelly Eagan (St. James, N.Y.) drilled the ball out of the box. In the 75th minute, a header by Carolyn Blank off a corner kick was also saved by Williams to keep the game tied, 1-1. Williams finished the game with six saves.

The Wildcats nearly regained the lead in the 83rd minute with Ryan again playing a pivotal role. She ran up the right side and crossed a hard shot towards the goal, but Kerri Butler kicked the ball out of bounds for her only save of the day.

Early in the first golden goal overtime period, a Mountaineer shot by Deana Everrett was saved by Williams on the left side of the net but Blake Miller tapped in the rebound as Williams reached for the ball to end the game.

The Villanova defense was in top form the entire game and nearly overcame a 23-7 shot advantage by West Virginia. The Mountaineers set a school record with 18 corner kicks in the game but all went unredeemed as the Wildcats demonstrated their improved play defending set pieces. Many of the corner kicks for West Virginia were awarded after deflections of initial attempts. Only six of the 18 corners led to a shot being taken and just two of those shots were on target.

Villanova has two games remaining in the regular season and both will be on the road next weekend at Cincinnati and Louisville, respectively. The Wildcats need at least one win to have a chance to qualify for a spot in the BIG EAST Championship which begins later this month. Villanova takes on Cincinnati on Friday night at 7 p.m. and then plays Louisville on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Wildcats are a combined 6-0 against the two teams since they joined the BIG EAST Conference in 2005.

NOTES: Villanova's 110-game unbeaten streak (105-0-5) when it scores the first goal of a game came to an end ... The Wildcats last loss in a game they scored first was a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Boston College in a BIG EAST Tournament game on November 2, 1999 ... Williams has made 23 saves in her last three games and 34 saves in her last five games ... The Mountaineers have outscored opponents 32-8 this season ... Villanova had not scored a goal against West Virginia since a 4-2 loss to the Mountaineers in the quarterfinals of the 2005 BIG EAST Championship ... The teams have played each other in the conference tournament four times in the last five seasons ... The Mountaineers have won five straight games in the series and now lead it 8-4-4.