Villanova men’s soccer took the field in Queens, N.Y. on Saturday night for a matchup with St John’s. Hungry for their first win, the Wildcats started off strong before eventually falling behind and losing, 2-1.
The loss brings the Wildcats’ record to 0-5-4 and 0-2 in the Big East.
Head coach Mark Fetrow discussed the confidence his team had following its draw with No. 20 Penn on Sept. 24.
“From an attitude perspective, the guys were really buzzing and feeling really good,” Fetrow said. “They felt really confident coming into this game and that we were gonna take that momentum coming into this Big East game.”
The Wildcats brought this attitude for the entire first half. The score remained tied for the majority of the opening 45 minutes, but just six minutes before halftime, the Wildcats were awarded a penalty.
A cross from freshman midfielder/forward Karson Vaquez forced a hand ball from the St John’s defense. Vasquez has continued to make strides in training and in games. He has seen his minutes increase throughout the season.
While a freshman drew the penalty, it was the Wildcats’ most experienced player who stepped up to take the shot.
Graduate midfielder and team captain Jorge Garcia converted the penalty giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. In his five years at Villanova, Garcia has proved to be a team leader and one of the Wildcats’ most dangerous playmakers.
“Jorge [Garcia] is our captain, and he’s a guy we rely on to have a lot of different responsibilities,” Fetrow said. “He’s a guy we lean on a lot and with that comes a lot of pressure because we expect him in key moments of the game to come through for us and make sure that we’re on the right side of things.”
The Wildcats went into halftime with a 1-0 lead. In the past few games, they have either been trailing or tied at the break.
The Wildcats entered the second half with momentum, but by the 65th minute, they had lost their lead.
Twenty minutes into the second half, St. John’s equalized on a goal from sophomore midfielder Tyler Morck.
Five minutes after Morck’s equalizer, St. John’s sophomore midfielder Martin Kozak scored the game-winning goal.
Despite starting off the game with momentum and taking a lead into halftime, the Wildcats found themselves trailing, 2-1, with 22 minutes left in the game.
Conceding one, let alone two, goals was a shock for Fetrow and his staff, as the Wildcats had played some of their best soccer all year in the buildup to Garcia’s goal.
“I didn’t think we were gonna give up a goal,” Fetrow said. “I think us not giving up a goal in the first half has been relatively new for us and we felt really good about how we defended that first half. We gave up two goals [in the second half]. The first goal was directly something we had talked about, defending the back post and being organized. We didn’t do those things well so we’ve got to watch the tape, we’ve got to learn from them again and hopefully not make those same mistakes moving forward.”
Following the go-ahead goal from St John’s, the Wildcats searched for the equalizer, but were unable to find the tying goal and left Queens without a win.
Up next for the Wildcats is a Friday afternoon clash with UConn at Higgins Soccer Complex. Kickoff is at 4 p.m.
