Orange Loses at Villanova on Penalty Kick

Wednesday, October 29

Villanova, PA

3 p.m.

Syracuse University

Villanova

Raoul Meister had three shots, including one on goal, Wednesday at Villanova.

10/29/2008 7:00:07 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Syracuse men’s soccer team outshot Villanova, 12-7, and earned the only corner kick of the match, but the Wildcats prevailed, 1-0, on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at the VU Soccer Complex. In cold and blustery conditions, Villanova’s Joe Taylor scored the only goal of the contest on a penalty kick in the 12th minute.

The Orange is now 7-6-3 overall and 3-6-1 in the conference. Villanova improved to 7-8-2 overall and 4-4-2 in the BIG EAST. In addition, the Wildcats earned three crucial points in the race to secure a conference championship berth.

The pivotal play of the afternoon occurred early in the match when Taylor broke toward the SU net and collided with senior keeper Robert Cavicchia (North York, Ontario). The whistle blew and Taylor was awarded a penalty kick that he converted at the 11:19 mark and proved to be the deciding margin.

Both teams registered five shots in the opening half, and two of SU’s three shots on goal Wednesday came in the first period as junior Hansen Woodruff (Stuart, Fla.) and senior Karol Wasielewski (Gdynia, Poland) tested Villanova keeper Chris Bresnahan in the early going. Bresnahan was up to the challenge on both attempts and the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Still trailing, Syracuse outshot the Wildcats, 7-2, in the final 45 minutes, but could not land the tying goal. The Orange’s final chance came when it earned the game’s only corner kick with just over a minute to play. Senior Isaac Collings (Oriskany, N.Y.) lined up the set piece, which eventually resulted in a shot by Raoul Meister (Sprockhoevel, Germany), but his attempt was stopped by Bresnahan with 27 seconds left to play.

Woodruff and Meister paced the Orange offense with three shots each. Cavicchia made three saves in the match, including consecutive stops on Villanova’s Matt Margiotta in the 71st minute, to keep it a one-goal game.

Bresnahan finished with three saves to earn the shutout for Villanova.

Syracuse concludes the 2008 regular season at home on Saturday, Nov. 1. The Orange hosts #20/21 Louisville at 8 p.m. at the SU Soccer Stadium.

Match Notes: After coming off the bench in the previous two games, Meister and sophomore Justin Arena (Potomac, Md.) earned starting nods at Villanova … Taylor’s penalty kick goal was the first by an SU opponent since Cincinnati’s Sam Miller scored on one in 2005.