Villanova and Princeton faced off in men’s soccer for the first time since 2017 this past Saturday, Sept. 13, at Higgins Complex. The Wildcats fell to the Tigers, 3-0.

The last time the teams faced off eight years ago, the Wildcats lost, 2-0. The Tigers now own the overall record, 4-2.

The first half saw all three Princeton (2-1-0) goals. Villanova (2-2-2), according to Villanova men’s soccer head coach Mark Fetrow, struggled in the first half to keep up with Princeton’s offensive pressure. The Wildcats did not score in the second half.

“Princeton’s a good team,” Villanova head coach Mark Fetrow said. “They’re well-coached, an NCAA tournament team, and a lot of returners, so we knew it was going to be a test. But, overall, I think we kind of played into their hands a bit in the first half by trying to overplay, and it just dug too big a hole for us to then have to climb out of.”

Going into the match, Villanova had prepared for the team’s constant movement and offensive insistence but did not execute enough on defensive tactics.

Fetrow noted the impact of Princeton’s front three players and midfielders. The Tigers put up 24 shots, creating a number of offensive opportunities throughout the game. Villanova sophomore goalkeeper Alex Yagudayev blocked four shots on goal while allowing in three.

“We wanted to be sound defensively, we knew that Princeton had a lot of fluid movement from their front three and their midfielders,” Fetrow said. “So, we got a good look at that in training two days before the game, felt like we repped it out well, felt like we trained well, but then we didn’t execute well.”

Villanova received a penalty kick opportunity in the 55th minute when a foul in the box was called on Princeton midfielder Tyler Vilent. However, Villanova’s shot was saved by Princeton keeper Andrew Samuels, leaving both teams ultimately scoreless for the entirety of the second half.

Princeton committed 13 fouls, and Villanova had seven. Two yellow cards were given to Princeton players, Sam Vigilante and Jack Jasinski, both for unsportsmanlike behavior. 

The Wildcats now look ahead to starting Big East conference play this Friday, Sept. 19 against DePaul University (2-1-4).

Fetrow anticipated that the team would spend the first half of the week reflecting and moving on from Saturday’s disappointing loss. Fetrow said the focus would be to try to get back to the energy the team had at the beginning of the season before setting the game plan for Friday.

“We’ll spend Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, really focusing on us… and being able to stretch teams out, opening up pockets to play through, and being more sound defensively,” Fetrow said. “I think that’s been something we’ve been good at, throughout the beginning of the season here, and we fell very short of that today, so we’ve got to get back to the things that we’ve been doing well.”

The Wildcats will return home to take on the Blue Demons at Higgins Soccer Complex (ESPN+, 2 p.m.).