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Resurgent Defense Proving Key for Wildcats
Oct. 4, 2008
VILLANOVA, Pa. - In its recent back-to-back shutouts against Seton Hall and St. John's, the Villanova defense has allowed the opposition a total of just five shots on goal and the Wildcats have had an overall shot advantage of 44-18. These two games came after a stretch of three outings in which Villanova was scored on eight times in three straight losses.
The recent performance of the defense is far more in line with the way the team's back line began the season. The Wildcats outscored their opponents 24-9 along the way to winning their first seven games of the year and in those wins permitted an average of just 5.4 shots on goal per game.
Central defenders Laura Sylvester (Broomall, Pa.) and Kelly Eagan (St. James, N.Y.) have continued to be steady forces. Meanwhile, freshman Erin Ryan (Doylestown, Pa.) has emerged on the left side to be an important contributor and sophomore Amy Greco (Media, Pa.) is settling into her role on the right side for Villanova, which has not been scored on in the last 201 minutes of play.
The team's composure on defense has been as big a part of the recent success as any other factor. Though scoring opportunities for the opponent were rare for Seton Hall and St. John's, it isn't as if they were nonexistent. In Friday's win against the Red Storm, an early scoring attempt by St. John's was turned away inside the box and the Wildcats later withstood consecutive shots from point-blank range midway through the second half without allowing the Red Storm to get on the board.
The effort has been team-wide as well. The first of those two point-blank shots by St. John's in Friday's second half was deflected away from the goal by midfielder Jessica Carnevale (Princeton, N.J.) for Villanova's third team save of the year.
As the play in front of her has improved, so has that of junior Molly Williams (Hinsdale, Ill.) in goal. Williams has made four saves in the last two games while pushing her personal shutout streak to 202:53. A goalkeeper has far more impact on a game than just stopping shots, however, and Williams' all-around game has been quite steady in the last two outings.
It is no surprise that the surge on defense has led to one in the win column as well. Villanova recovered from its first three-game losing streak in four years to even its BIG EAST record at 2-2 with Friday's victory. The Wildcats are back in business in the race to one of five playoff spots in the league's National Division and for the second straight game will see a rather unfamiliar opponent when Syracuse visits on Sunday afternoon.
Villanova and the Orange have not met since a 1-1 tie in Syracuse during the 2005 season and in fact have only played each other seven times. The Orange last visited Villanova in 2003 when current Wildcat assistant coach Shannon Myers was the Syracuse goalkeeper. Villanova leads the all-time series 5-1-1.
About Syracuse: The Orange return to the field for the first time in a week after their scheduled game on Friday afternoon at Georgetown was postponed due to a virus outbreak on the Georgetown campus. The last game for Syracuse was an 8-0 loss on the road to West Virginia last Sunday in a contest that snapped a four-game shutout streak for the Orange defense. Syracuse has posted five shutouts in 10 games this season but has allowed 18 goals in its other five games. The team is 4-4-2 overall and has gone 1-1-1 in conference play thus far.
Megan Bellingham has accounted for half of the team's offense with six of the 12 goals scored by the Orange on the year. Chelsea Berry has three assists and Sara Grimsgaard and Karrah Benson have two helpers apiece. In goal, Eliza Bennett-Hattan has played in all 10 games and owns a 1.64 goals-against average and .660 save percentage in 879:30 in net.
Wildcats Have Been Resilient Over the Years: Each year it seems that the teams that fare the best towards the end of the season are the ones that have been the most battle-tested and have shown an ability to overcome adversity during the course of the year. Opportunities to overcome adversity of course present themselves in numerous ways but perhaps no reaction is more telling than the way a team responds to coming out on the short end of games.
Villanova lost three straight games earlier this season, the first time that had happened since a similar slide in October, 2004. Following that losing streak four seasons ago, the Wildcats went 5-2-2 the rest of the way, were selected to the NCAA Tournament and reached the second round before narrowly falling to eventual College Cup qualifier Princeton. One year earlier, Villanova's 5-0-5 finish to the 2003 season that led to a BIG EAST championship and NCAA Sweet 16 berth didn't get started until after the team had been shutout in three straight 1-0 losses.
Those two seasons are just two examples of times in which the Wildcats have made a significant run after falling in three straight games. The 2000 team finished 11-8 and is the only Villanova squad in the last 12 years to miss the BIG EAST Tournament. Yet even that team recovered from a three-game losing streak to win five of its last seven games. In 1999? The Wildcats lost three straight in mid-October and then promptly turned around to win three of its next five and claim an ECAC Championship with back-to-back wins.
The signs are there that the current edition of Villanova women's soccer is on the way to joining the above list of resilient teams. Since being outscored 10-1 in three straight losses from September 19-26, the team has posted two straight shutouts and appears to be firing on all cylinders entering Sunday's game. A win against Syracuse on Sunday would give the Wildcats their 10th consecutive season with a double-digit win total and guarantee the team a 12th straight season with at least a .500 record.
This Date in Wildcat History: Villanova scored four goals in both of its wins on this date, coming against Princeton in 1988 and Pittsburgh in 2001. The Wildcats have gone 2-2-1 overall in games played on October 5.
In 2003, Villanova won the only BIG EAST Championship in program history and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. On this date, however, the Wildcats were dealt a 1-0 setback in overtime against Notre Dame, ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time. The game's lone goal was scored with 2:38 to play in the first overtime period and marked the first of three straight losses for Villanova. The Wildcats went 5-0-5 after that three-game losing streak before their season ended on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw against BYU in an NCAA Championship regional semifinal game.
Up Next: The Wildcats return to competition against National Division opponents next weekend and also close out their 2008 regular season home schedule in the process. Villanova hosts DePaul on Friday at 4 p.m. and Notre Dame next Sunday at 1 p.m. before going on the road for four straight games.
Sunday's Basics
Kickoff: 1:00 PM
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