A fast start to the soccer season has been followed by a quick decline. The men’s soccer team lost both of its games this weekend and dropped to 6-5-4 on the season. After a 5-0-1 start, the ‘Cats have only won one of their last 9, going 1-5-3.

Tuesday’s contest against Layayette started well for the Wildcats as freshman Craig Moscetti netted his first goal of the year. Two second half goals by Lafayette, however, gave the Leopards their 11th win of the season. Fatigue played a major role in the game as Villanova’s starters were forced to play extra minutes due to injuries. Leading scorer Dan DeMasters was sidelined after an injury suffered on Saturday, and Marcelo Rodriguez was out as well.

Head Coach Larry Sullivan was visibly dissappointed after the contest and cited “lack of depth” as a problem during the game.

Saturday’s game against West Virginia was dominated by the Wildcats but a quick goal just 10 minutes into play held up for the Mountaineers.

“It was the most that we have dominated a team all season, we just couldn’t find the net,” senior Mike Altschuler said.

Villanova could still miss the cut for the Big East tournament if they do not play well on Saturday. A decisive game against Syracuse (4-10) should determine their postseason situation.

“At this point we need to make the Big East tournament, hopefully we can turn things around and make something happen from there,” Sullivan said of the team’s goals for the rest of the season.

If the ‘Cats are able to get back on the winning track, they may have an outside chance at making the NCAA tournament, although they would still need to win their next two games and have a great showing in the Big East tourney.

The game against Syracuse is on Saturday at 1 p.m. The ‘Cats will wrap up the regular season on Wednesday against Penn State at 2 p.m. at the West Campus Soccer Complex.