Nova Comes From Behind Over Fairfield
from press release
VILLANOVA, Pa. - In the come from behind
victory, sophomore Kevin Cunningham tallied two goals and three
assists to lead Villanova (2-1, 0-0) in their second victory of the
season over the Fairfield Stags (1-2, 0-0), 8-6, in front of a home
crowd of 436. C.J. Small, Matt Bell, Jack Rice and Paul Webber all
tallied goals in the victory to put the Wildcats at 2-1 for the
year.
Head coach Mike Corrado states, "It was a good win. The kids showed
a lot out there from coming from behind, especially in the fourth
quarter. It's probably the way they fought back. It was a good
quality win against a very good Fairfield team. [Kevin] Cunningham
continues to develop into a scorer and feeder and is becoming the
quarterback for the offense."
In an overall display of defensive prowess, the Wildcats overcame a
three goal deficit in the first 20 minutes of play to notch the
win. Fairfield attackman Sam Snow tallied two of his game-high four
goals in the first fifteen minutes to give the Stags a 2-0 lead
going into the second period. Stag attackman Max Trunz capitalized
on an assist from Ryan Mulford to give Fairfield a 3-0 lead to
begin the second quarter.
Villanova began to find their rhythm when Paul Webber scored off a
Cunningham assist at the 10:24 mark to give the Wildcats their
first point of the game in the second quarter. C.J. Small and
Cunningham followed in suit just two minutes later to tie the game
at three-all. Going into the locker room, Fairfield held a slight
4-3 lead with two periods to play.
To begin the second half, VU's Small found the back of the net off
a pass from Mike Brennan to tie the game at 4-4, while Jack Rice
gave Villanova the go-ahead goal on a man-up opportunity at the
7:28 mark to put the `Cats ahead for the first time of the
game.
The final fifteen minutes saw Fairfield's Sam Snow tally two more
goals off assists from Max Trunz and Sean Bannon, giving the Stags
a one goal lead with 12 minutes left to play. Villanova's Bell
answered by scoring two goals of his own off assists from
Cunningham and Mark Scioscia, while Cunningham scored an insurance
goal for the Wildcats off an Andrew Henrich assist with 47 seconds
left to give the Wildcats the 8-6 victory.
Villanova led Fairfield in total shots, 31-29, and face-offs by
capturing 11-18 opportunities.
VU's Dan Gutierrez made 11 saves in the win while Fairfield's
Joseph Marra tallied 9 in the loss.
Corrado states, "Dan played his best game of the year especially at
crunch time in the fourth quarter. He made several great stops for
us to keep our lead. He was a big reason why we won today."
