The Villanova women’s soccer season has officially come to an end. On Thursday, Oct. 31, Villanova lost, 2-1, against Butler to place seventh in Big East, narrowly missing the conference playoffs.
The Wildcats finished the 2024 season with a 5-7-6 overall record and 2-3-5 conference record, which is the most success the team has seen in the last ten years.
Entering the game, Villanova needed a win, along with a draw in the DePaul-Providence match, to secure a spot in the Big East tournament.
On the other side, Butler was hoping for a St. John’s win over Creighton, along with its win or tie over Villanova to secure third place in the conference and avoid playing UConn in the first round. This game was a must-win for both teams, making it a competitive, playoff-like match of its own.
“It was basically a postseason game for both teams,” head coach Samar Azem said. “It was a good opportunity to see how our players would handle that.”
From a statistical standpoint, Butler controlled the game. The Bulldogs had 17 shots (six on goal) compared to Villanova’s six shots (four on goal).
The Wildcats got the scoring started in the 21st minute with a goal by graduate midfielder Alex Fava, assisted by sophomore defensive back Olivia Marrone.
Both teams went scoreless the rest of the half, making it 1-0 in Villanova’s favor at halftime. The start of the second half was more of the same as the one-goal lead remained for the Wildcats.
Around the 60th minute news broke out that Creighton let in a goal against St. Johns, opening up Butler’s chance to take over third place. The Bulldogs took action and subbed in all of their starters to make a late push against the Wildcats. They continued to push more players up in hopes of scoring a game-tying goal.
“They sent a ton of numbers in and went for Hail Marys,” Azem said. “It becomes hard to defend that.”
In the 73rd minute, Butler finally found the equalizer, putting Villanova’s playoff hopes on hold. With the game coming to an end the Wildcats were more aggressive searching for a goal. Unfortunately, this put their defense at risk as they let in a goal with five minutes remaining that ultimately proved to be the game-winner.
Junior goalkeeper Hannah Dickinson had a solid performance in her last game of the season. She made four saves that kept Villanova in the game the whole way. This wrapped up a terrific first Villanova season for the goalie who was a transfer from USC.
With the 2-1 loss, the Wildcats were officially pushed out of the playoffs, and Butler earned their spot as the third seed. Butler lost to DePaul in a penalty shoot-out in the Big East first round, a bitter-sweet result for Villanova.
The Wildcats will look to build on this season’s success and continue to improve next year. With the young team gaining more experience, they are poised to be a threat in the Big East in the 2025 season.
“We’re bringing a ton of our starters back,” Azem said. “We have way more experience. It’s a heartbreaking way to end the season because we felt like we should’ve been in the tournament. The upside is all the inexperience is coming with experience next year.”
