Sept. 11, 2007

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova women's soccer team carries a 3-0-1 record into a busy week as the team will play three games in a week for the only time this season. First up is a home game against Princeton on Tuesday at 4 p.m., followed by an away game against Lehigh on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The week concludes at home on Sunday with a 1 p.m. game against Temple. Below are some current news and notes on the team.

Week in Review
Last week the Wildcats played to a scoreless tie against Princeton and then defeated Robert Morris 3-1. In the game against Princeton, Villanova played with a confident and steady defensive effort to neutralize an aggressive Tigers offense. The Wildcats then dominated in the win over the Colonials, owning a 31-8 shot advantage and 19-0 edge in corner kicks.

Mabery Earns BIG EAST Honors
Senior forward Nikki Mabery (Phoenix, Ariz.) was named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll for her play in last week's slate of games. In the win over Robert Morris, Mabery registered her second career hat trick by scoring all three of Villanova's goals in the game. Mabery netted the first two goals of the game in a span of just 24 seconds midway through the first half and added the third goal early in the second half to pad a 2-1 lead. For the game, Mabery took a team-high 11 shots. She also accounted for all three Villanova shots on goal in the 0-0 tie with Princeton. This week marks the third time that Mabery has earned honor roll status.

Polling Places
The Wildcats continue to gain notice in national polls. This week Villanova is ranked No. 25 in the Soccer Buzz Magazine Top 30 poll. Dating back to last season, the team has now been ranked in 11 consecutive Soccer Buzz polls, a new program high. In addition this week, the Wildcats are receiving votes in both the NSCAA/adidas Top 25 and the Soccer Times Top 25 polls.

Corner Count
In Sunday's win over Robert Morris, the Wildcats took a school-record 19 corner kicks while not allowing any to the Colonials. Villanova had 12 corner kicks in the first period and seven more after halftime. The team was just three kicks away from tying the NCAA record of 22 corner kicks set by UNC-Wilmington against Chowan in 1995. The Wildcats have taken 42 corner kicks through the first four games, compared to 29 through four games last season.

Closing In
Senior goalkeeper Jillian Loyden (Vineland, N.J.) needs to play just 2:35 more in goal to become the third keeper in school history to play 6,000 career minutes in net. Loyden currently has played 5997:25 in goal for Villanova, compiling a 0.71 goals-against average, .863 save percentage, 41 victories and 28 shutouts. The 41 wins are a school record and the 28 shutouts stand one away from tying the career program mark.

Staggering Stats
The Wildcats seem to follow a recipe for success anytime they score first in a game, especially in the first half. In games the team leads at halftime, Villanova has not lost since 1999, going 58-0-3 in the last 61 games. Since 1997 (the arrival of head coach Ann Clifton), Villanova is 65-1-4 when leading at halftime. When the Wildcats score the first goal of a game, the team is 89-0-5 since 1999 and 113-3-7 in Clifton's tenure.