Villanova University

Oct. 29, 2009

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VILLANOVA, Pa. - Senior defender Kelly Eagan (St. James, N.Y.), for so long the rock of her team's defense and a player with a knack for being involved in the biggest plays on the field, took the decisive penalty kick as Villanova (11-4-5, #4 Seed National Division) defended its home turf and advanced past Connecticut (10-7-2, #5 Seed American Division) to the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Championship in a first round game at the West Campus Soccer Complex on Thursday afternoon. Following a 1-1 draw in regulation and two overtime periods, the Wildcats emerged with a 4-1 edge in the penalty kick session.

Villanova kicked first in the shootout and led 3-1 after each team had taken three kicks. Eagan stepped up and fired home her shot to put the Wildcats into a quarterfinal game for the eighth time in the last nine years. The team will head to Marquette (13-4-2, #1 Seed American Division) for a game on Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern time/1 p.m. Central. The winner advances to the semifinals, which are being hosted at the University of Connecticut.

A true team effort all around for Villanova made it possible for the team to advance in today's game. Senior goalkeeper Molly Williams (Hinsdale, Ill.) registered 11 saves during the game itself and another on the third penalty kick taken by the Huskies. She made 10 of her saves after halftime, including four in the two golden-goal extra frames.

Plenty of dramatics took place before the shootout on a day when the Wildcats struck for the first goal just 26 seconds into the contest. Sophomore forward Katie Ryan (Wayne, N.J.) scored her conference-best 11th goal of the season on a pass from freshman forward Heidi Sabatura (Lawrenceville, N.J.) and Villanova was out of the gates on a very promising note. The team remains undefeated when leading at halftime over the last decade. Sabatura made a pass to Ryan at the top right corner of the 18-yard box and Ryan was able to get a step in front of a Connecticut defender. She then had to deal with the Huskies goalkeeper charging towards the play and barely had time to slide the pall past the keeper and into the bottom left side of the net.

As the game got further and further into regulation, Connecticut started to pick up the intensity of its offensive push in a manner similar to the first game these teams played against each other earlier this season. In the 77th minute, the Huskies were allowed to play on with an advantage after a foul called from the right sideline. A scramble for the ball eventually ensued at the left goal-post and an own goal was charged against the Wildcats.

Once the game was tied, Connecticut quickly made an even stronger push to try and take the lead but Williams made three saves in a span of less than one minute to keep the game tied. Villanova then came inches away from regaining the lead in the 82nd minute, when a shot by senior midfielder Erin Byrnes (Sayville, N.Y.) rolled just past the right goalpost with little daylight between the ball and the inside of the post.

The day's final shot count was 21-16 in favor of the Huskies, including a 6-2 edge in overtime (4-0 in the second extra period). Williams made a spectacular save on a header attempt with just over two minutes left in the second extra period, a stop that was topped perhaps only by her save on the penalty kick.

Ryan took a game-high seven shots for the Wildcats and Sabatura had four.

Starting goalkeeper Jessica Dulski had five saves for Connecticut before having to come out of the game with an injury suffered late in regulation. In the 88th minute, she collided with sophomore forward Megan Verdeur (Levittown, Pa.) at the top of the box and appeared to sustain an injury. She stayed in, but aggravated the injury with 36 seconds left in regulation and was replaced by Ally Mancino, who was in goal for the overtime periods and the shootout.

NOTES: Today's game was the first postseason contest for Villanova that went to penalty kicks since the semifinals of the 2004 BIG EAST Championship ... That was also a matchup between the Wildcats and Connecticut, in which the Huskies advanced to the title game on their home turf with a 3-1 edge in the shootout ... Villanova is 4-3 all-time in games that are determined via a shootout ... Two of the three "wins" came during its BIG EAST title run in 2003 ... The other came in the second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament against Virginia ... Games that are decided by penalty kicks are ruled a tie for both teams ... The Wildcats lost to Connecticut, 1-0, in Storrs earlier this month ... The Huskies went 2-4-2 down the stretch following that win ... Villanova is 73-0-6 since the start of the 1999 season when leading at halftime and 115-1-8 since late in the 1999 campaign when scoring the first goal of a game ... Sunday's quarterfinal matchup at Marquette is a rematch of the 2006 quarterfinal game between the teams, also played in Milwaukee and won by the Golden Eagles, 1-0.