VILLANOVA, Pa. ? The Tigers had a tough task in front of them when they faced Villanova in a key Colonial Athletic Association game on Wednesday night. They had to try to score on the nation's toughest scoring defense in an effort to secure a berth in the CAA Tournament. Unfortunately, the Wildcats were also up for the challenge and used a 10-1 run to hand the Tigers a 13-4 defeat at Villanova Stadium.
Junior attackman Mark Scioscia scored two goals and added an assist as the Wildcats defeated the Tigers for the second straight season after losing the first 16 meetings in the all-time series.
The Wildcats, who entered the game with the nation's top scoring defense, held the Tigers to just four goals. It is the fifth time this season Villanova has allowed just four goals in a game.
After a slow start, the Tigers took a 1-0 lead with 2:49 remaining in the first quarter when senior midfielder Randall Cooper scored off a feed from senior midfielder Justin Schneider for his seventh goal of the season.
Just 17 seconds into the second quarter, the Wildcats tied the game at 1-1 when senior midfielder Matthew Fritts scored an extra-man goal by converting a pass from senior attackman Chris MacDonald. Less than a minute later, junior midfielder Pat Britton regained the Tigers' one-goal edge with his seventh goal of the year, an unassisted marker past senior goalkeeper Andrew DiLoreto.
However, the Wildcats took a 3-2 lead with 7:07 remaining in the first half after back-to-back goals from sophomore defenseman Chris Ficke and senior attackman Tim Driscoll.
Junior midfielder Will Harrington tied the game at 3-3 with an unassisted goal with 3:10 remaining before the Wildcats started their game-clinching run with two goals in the final two minutes of the first half.
Leading by a pair of goals to start the second half, the Wildcats upped their advantage to 7-3 early in the third quarter when freshman attackman C.J. Small and Scioscia scored back-to-back goals in an 11-second span.
Freshman attackman Sean Maguire scored off a Cooper pass with six minutes remaining in the third quarter, narrowing the Tiger deficit to 7-4, but the Wildcat defense held Towson scoreless for the final 21 minutes as Villanova ended the game with a 6-0 run. Scioscia scored a goal and added an assist during the spurt.
While Scioscia led the Wildcats with his three-point performance, Fritts and senior attackman Tim Langan each added two goals in the victory. DiLoreto, who entered the week as the national leader with a 5.77 goals against average, made nine saves in the victory for the Wildcats.
Cooper led the Tigers in a losing effort with a goal and an assist while junior goalkeeper Rob Wheeler (Friends School/Baltimore, Md.) posted seven saves.
The Tigers will return home on Saturday afternoon to host fifth-ranked Hofstra in a Colonial Athletic Association game at 1 p.m. which will be televised on WMAR-TV in Baltimore and ESPNU nationally. Meanwhile, the Wildcats will travel to Drexel for a 3 p.m. game against the Dragons on Saturday afternoon.
