On Saturday, Sept. 27, Villanova’s women’s soccer team fell to No. 24 Xavier University, 9-0, at Corcoran Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. The game marked the largest goal deficit in the program’s history since a 10-1 loss against Notre Dame in 1996.
The Wildcats (6-0-5, 1-0-2 Big East) faced their second nationally ranked opponent of the season, the Musketeers (7-2-2, 2-1-0 Big East). With the help of a seven-goal second half, Xavier overpowered Villanova. Xavier’s veteran depth was a challenge for the Wildcats, as six out of the 11 Xavier starters were seniors.
Villanova only managed to get two shots on goal out of its four attempts. The Musketeers outpaced the Wildcats with 11 of 28 shots on goal.
Senior Hannah Dickinson started in goal for the Wildcats. She had two saves while allowing five goals. In the last 20 minutes, junior goalkeeper Allie Vincent was substituted in for Dickinson to finish out the remainder of the game.
Early in the game, Villanova graduate forward Hannah Curtin saw a chance to knock in a goal, but was unable to convert on the opportunity. It was Villanova’s lone shot on goal for the entire game.
Xavier retaliated against Villanova’s offensive pressure with goals from Musketeer forward Elin Hansson in the 11th minute, followed by a second in the 35th.
At the conclusion of the first half, the Wildcats narrowly trailed Xavier, 2-0.
Villanova looked to create comeback chances at the start of the second half. However, Xavier was quick to continue its offensive prowess. In the 51st minute, Xavier’s Hansson put a third goal into the net, completing a hat trick.
Riding the momentum of Hansson’s goal, Xavier drove itself into the Wildcats’ defensive third and scored a fourth goal in the 57th minute to take a 5-0 lead.
“Once you’re down, 4-0, you’re thinking, this early in the season, as the coach, do you push it and go for the win when you know you have a really steep mountain to climb?” Azem said. “Or do you cut your losses and say, ‘let’s keep this game to a place where we can still gain experience through playing?’”
Azem decided on the latter choice, making substitutions after the fourth and fifth goals. Many of the Wildcat substitutions provided players with less experience an opportunity to gain exposure to conference play.
Xavier’s clinical offense put up five more goals with ease against a newer Villanova defense, two of which were deflected into the net by Wildcat players. It was the most goals by Xavier in over three decades.
Villanova is now 0-4 against Xavier through Coach Azem’s tenure.
“We were a little out of it going into Xavier, so we’re pushing back to our identity,” Azem said. “It was a tough blow this weekend, so there has to be a bit of healing, and that healing comes from resilience, which our players have.”
The Wildcats look forward to further integrating experienced players coming off injuries before their next game. After that, the team has a 10-day gap in its schedule.
Villanova will now take to the road again on Wednesday, Oct. 1, to face off against DePaul University (3-6-1, 0-1-1 Big East) in its third game of conference play (5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT).
