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Wildcats to Honor Five Seniors Prior to Sunday's Game against Notre Dame
Oct. 12, 2008
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Prior to its final home game of the regular season on Sunday afternoon, Villanova will honor the five members of its senior class for their career accomplishments both on and off the field. The class of 2008 includes forward Nicole Coia (Simpsonville, S.C.), midfielders Erin Hardiman (Galloway, N.J.) and Kristen Verbit (Newtown, Pa.), defender Laura Sylvester (Broomall, Pa.) and goalkeeper Leann Kania (Pittsburgh, Pa.).
Every year a new graduating class leaves its own mark on the program but this current group of Wildcats has a chance to hold a particularly special place. In their four-year careers, the seniors currently have a record of 48-16-12 (.711). They were part of one of the best seasons in school history in 2006, when Villanova won a program-high 16 games and set nine team records during the year. The 16 losses for this group are currently the fewest ever in a four-year period for any class of Wildcat seniors; last year's graduating class set a program record with just 19 losses in their careers.
As successful a run as the 2008 seniors have had, the final chapters in their story have yet to be written. With five more regular season games followed by the possibility of competition, this group of players is as committed as ever to adding to the legacy they will leave.
Nicole Coia: One of the team's most valuable players off the bench, Coia has demonstrated an ability to make a quick impact on games. She has played in 71 career games and scored six goals, including four game-winners. Coia also has six career assists for a total of 18 points. In a 3-0 win over Syracuse on October 5, she recorded her only assist of the season with a pass to Hardiman just moments after entering the contest. A standout off the field as well, Coia is a two-time Big East Academic All-Star and was named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area team and the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District squad in both 2006 and 2007. Coia is a Communications major and is enrolled in the Villanova Honors program.
Erin Hardiman: One of the most skilled playmakers on the team, Hardiman has broken out with a highlight-filled senior year this season. She set a single-season program record in Friday's game against DePaul with her 11th and 12th assists of the season, breaking out of a tie for the record that she held with three other players. Hardiman has four goals and 12 assists on the year and is tied for the team lead with 20 points. In her career, she has played in 76 career games with nine goals, 22 assists and 40 points. Hardiman is tied for sixth in school history in career assists and her nine career goals include two game-winners scored during the 2006 season. Hardiman is a Communications major.
Leann Kania: One of the hardest workers on the team, Kania is a talented goalkeeper who spent the first three years of her career as a backup to All-American Jillian Loyden. In six games, she has played 163 minutes in goal and made four saves with a 1.65 goals-against average. Kania made her first collegiate start earlier this season against Loyola (Md.). She gained experience in the NCAA Tournament in 2006 when she played the final 12 minutes of a first round victory over Toledo. Overall, Kania has shared a shutout in four of the six games she has played in. An accomplished student-athlete in every sense of the word, Kania is a two-time Big East Academic All-Star who is majoring in Comprehensive Science.
Laura Sylvester: One of just two players on the team who has started every game the past two seasons, Sylvester has joined a long list of outstanding central defenders that have played at Villanova. Since she became a defensive starter at the beginning of the 2006 campaign, Sylvester has started 57 straight games as a central back and the Wildcats have posted 35 shutouts. In 2006 and 2007, Villanova set and then matched a new school record by allowing just 11 goals the entire year. Sylvester has played in 72 career games and the Wildcats own 42 shutouts in these contests. A two-time Big East Academic All-Star, Sylvester was named to the 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area team and the 2007 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District squad. She is a Business major.
Kristen Verbit: The only player on the current roster who joined Villanova as a transfer, Verbit came to the Wildcats after playing her freshman season at Virginia Tech in 2005. An excellent leader both on and off the field, Verbit is a dangerous midfielder who makes an impact on games with pinpoint passing abilities. She has overcome injuries at times in her career to play in 29 games during the past two seasons, collecting assists in 2006 in wins over Robert Morris and Pittsburgh. The Robert Morris game was her first in a Wildcat uniform and Verbit assisted on a goal scored off a corner kick just seconds after entering the contest. She is a Communications major.
About Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish enter Sunday's game as the only unbeaten and untied team in the country. Notre Dame is the consensus No. 1 team in the nation in this week's national polls. In their 13 wins this year, the Fighting Irish have outscored the opposition by a 45-5 margin and given up just fewer than seven shots per game. Karri Hanks is leading the team in scoring with 13 goals and 30 points and Erica Iantorno has a team-high six assists. In goal, Kelsey Lysander has started all 13 games and owns a 0.42 goals-against average and .839 save percentage (26 saves, five goals allowed).
Series History: Villanova is 1-14 all-time against Notre Dame, with the lone win coming at home during the 2002 campaign. That game, played on September 27, was the first of five wins in a row for the Wildcats, who lost just once in their first 19 games that year. The Fighting Irish won last year's meeting 5-0 in South Bend.
Ranked Teams: Although the Wildcats have not technically faced a ranked opponent this season, two of the team's three losses have come to squads that moved into the polls the week after playing Villanova. Last week's NSCAA Top 25 poll listed Georgetown at No. 17 and Rutgers at No. 21. The last time the Wildcats played a ranked team at home was last season on October 21 when Villanova hosted No. 25 West Virginia. The last No. 1 team to play at the West Campus Soccer Complex was also Notre Dame, back on October 8, 2004. The Fighting Irish won that game, 1-0.
This Date in Wildcat History: Villanova is 4-1-1 (.750) in games played on October 12, though last year's contest against DePaul on this date was the first for the Wildcats on the day since 1994. Prior to a 1-0 win over the Blue Demons last season, the Wildcats other three wins on this date came against Rhode Island (1986), Rutgers (1988) and Princeton (1994). The 1986 game against Rhode Island was part of the Villanova Classic that season which marked the first-ever regular season tournament hosted by the Wildcats.
Early Date: Today's game marks the earliest final home game of a regular season in 17 years, dating back to when Villanova played Rutgers on October 9, 1991 in its final home game that season. The Wildcats finished the 1991 campaign with an appearance at the WAGS Tournament before playing three straight games on the road to finish the year.
Up Next: With the current five-game homestand about to be in the books, Villanova will head on the road for the final four games of the regular season over the next two weekends. The first of these games will be against Pittsburgh on Friday at 7 p.m. in Indianola, Pa.
Sunday's Basics
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
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