Despite owning a 12-3 edge in shots on goal, Villanova was unable to take advantage and pick up its first win, falling, 2-1, to Butler (1-3-1) in its Big East opener.
The Wildcats, now 0-3-2 on the season, came out strong and had momentum behind their offensive attack for most of the game. However, despite 21 shots on the day, Villanova struggled to find the net. Senior midfielder Jorge Garcia’s second half free kick was the only goal to cut Butler’s lead to one.
“Our effort was there,” head coach Tom Carlin said. “We had more than enough chances, but just couldn’t finish. I thought we were getting into good attacking spots, our possessions were good, it’s just unfortunate.”
The Wildcats controlled the tempo early, having eight shots in the first 30 minutes of the game, with Butler redshirt senior goalkeeper Caleb Norris making several impressive saves. He had 11 on the day. While the chances were there for the ‘Cats, led by seven shots and five on goal from junior forward Vincent Petrera, the Wildcats just could not finish.
While Villanova’s defense did limit the Bulldogs to just a third of the shots the home team put up, Butler was able to score when it mattered most, sinking two out of its three shots on goal.
Sophomore Palmer Ault, last year’s Big East Freshman of the Year, scored a pair of goals to lead the way for the Bulldogs, including a dazzling second-half shot off passes from Jack Streberger and Henry Kumwenda. Picked to be the Big East Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Ault’s play so far, which includes four goals in five matches, is surely aiding his case.
“He’s so crafty in front of the goal and off the ball,” Carlin said. “Both goals weren’t off much, but we needed to do a better job and… they looked for him, too, so they do a really good job at looking for him on his runs.”
Despite staring at a 2-0 deficit, the Wildcats continued to dominate time of possession and opened up multiple scoring chances, with Garcia’s goal cutting Butler’s lead in half. The intensity of both teams on the pitch was equaled by that of the crowd, as fans got rowdy as a result of the multiple yellow cards given to both teams.
In the final minute of play, Villanova’s captain, graduate midfielder Gray Ricca, had a shot on goal but was unable to find nylon, keeping the Wildcats winless in the 2023 season. In their last two games, the Wildcats outshot their opponents by a 51-13 margin and made goal- keepers work hard in the net with 25 shots on target, and yet, they’ve walked away winless and with just a single goal combined in both matches.
Despite the streak of non-winning decisions and offen- sive frustration for the Wildcats, Carlin is not discouraged and praised the effort put forth by his team. The Wildcats played to another draw against Western Michigan on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
“We just got to keep chipping away,” Carlin said. “I thought what we did, our gameplay and schemes were all in the right place, but we just got to get one of these to fall for us.”
