No. 9 Villanova Stifles Big East Foe Rutgers
from press release
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The No. 9 Villanova
Wildcats (9-4, 3-1 Big East) brought home a monumental 8-4 victory
Sunday afternoon in a defensive battle with BIG EAST Conference foe
Rutgers (5-7, 1-3 Big East) in Piscataway, N.J. Despite the rainy
and cold conditions, senior Paul Webber (Manhasset, N.Y.) captured
his fourth game of the season scoring at least four points,
tallying two goals and two assists on the day.
With the victory, the Wildcats are tied with Georgetown for second
place in the conference and are in prime contention to earn a bid
to the 16-team NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament. Rutgers lost their
third consecutive game to a top-10 ranked opponent with today's
match.
Head coach Mike Corrado states, "Today was a big win for us to get
us to 3-1 in the Big East. It was a great way to rebound from a
tough double-overtime loss last Tuesday to Lehigh. Our defense
played incredibly well and we did a great job of controlling one of
the best midfields in the nation against Rutgers. Our offense
played well, we had a good distribution of goals, and Billy Hurley
came up big for us making ten saves for the day."
To begin the game, Rutgers got on board first when Kevin Hover
notched the first score at the 11:41 mark. Just 28 seconds later,
Villanova's Paul Webber gave the Wildcats their first point after
turning a man-down scenario into a VU scoring opportunity, evening
the score at one-all. Trading goals, Rutgers' Gerhard Buehning gave
RU the 2-1 lead at the 9:37 mark off an unassisted play.
Villanova then went on to score two straight scores from senior
co-captain Mark Scioscia (East Hampton, N.Y.), his 17th and 18th of
the season, with 9:12 and 4:15 remaining in the quarter.
A quiet second stanza saw VU junior Mike Brennan (Manhasset, N.Y.)
score at the 13:48 mark from a transition started by senior Bryan
McCartney (Doylestown, Pa.) in the defensive end. The goal gave the
Wildcats a 4-2 lead, but Rutgers Buehning got the Scarlet Knights
to within one with 6:49 remaining when he tallied his second goal
of the game.
Going into intermission, the Wildcats held a slight 4-3 lead over
RU.
VU dominated a defensive-minded third quarter for both teams, with
VU seeing goals from sophomore Matt Bell (Severna Park, Md.) from a
Will Casertano assist (Millbrook, N.Y.) at the 12:12 mark, and
Casertano gaining his 11th goal of the season off a Webber pass
with 28 seconds remaining in the quarter. Going into the final
fifteen minutes, the Wildcats held a three goal advantage over the
Scarlet Knights, 6-3.
Going into the fourth quarter after 32 minutes of scoreless action,
RU's Tad Stanwick fed Hover for a goal with 4:44 remaining, but
Villanova retaliated 38 seconds later when freshman Jack Rice
(Baltimore, Md.) netted a goal off an Andrew Henrich (Wyndmoor,
Pa.) assist to keep the Wildcats up.
The final goal of the day is attributed to Webber, getting his
second goal from a Bell assist with 1:28 remaining.
VU led in nearly every category for the day, taking 19 of their 25
shots on goal and winning 9 of 15 face offs. Villanova captured 30
ground balls for the day.
Defensively, sophomore Chris Creighton (West Chester, Pa.) and
junior Brian Karalunas led the Wildcats with four caused turnovers
apiece, while Chris Ficke (Madison, N.J) and Nolan Vihlen
(Germantown, Tenn.) combined for 9 ground balls.
In goal, sophomore Billy Hurley (Morristown, N.J) earned his sixth
win of the season and made 10 saves on the day. RU's Billy Olin
captured 11 saves in the defeat.
Villanova will be back in action on Saturday, May 1st when they
travel to Providence, R.I. to take on the Friars. Game time is
scheduled for 2 p.m.
Corrado states, "We're looking forward to our last two Big East
games against Providence and Georgetown, it's going to be a great
finish in the conference."
