Men's Soccer Loses 3-2 Thriller To Villanova

Wednesday, October 24

SU Soccer Stadium

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Villanova

Hansen Woodruff scored his ninth goal of the season Wednesday versus Villanova.

10/24/2007 10:40:43 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange men’s soccer team lost a wild game, 3-2, to Villanova on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at the SU Soccer Stadium. The two teams combined for five goals, including four in the second half, and three in the span of 1:19 as they matched each other score for score. In the end it was Villanova’s Mike Seamon, who tallied all three goals for the Wildcats, that came through with a goal at 62:14 that provided the winning margin.

Seamon scored his first two goals of the match in the span of 18 seconds in the second half to give Villanova a 2-1 lead. His first goal came at the 54:55 mark off a miss-hit shot by Victor Faustino, tying the match at one apiece. The Wildcats (10-6-0, 5-4-0) quickly gained possession again off the ensuing kickoff. Joe Taylor hit Mike Del Guercio in the left side of the box. Del Guercio saw Seamon darting to the goal from the back side and slipped him a pass. Seamon buried the shot from virtually the same spot as his first goal, this time it was a strike just under the crossbar that put the Wildcats in front.

The scoring barrage wasn’t over as the Orange (5-6-4, 2-6-0) regrouped and tied the match a minute later. Junior Pete Rowley (Reading, Pa.), starting his first game of the year, served a low drive on a corner kick that junior defender Karol Wasielewski (Gdynia, Poland) got on the other end of for his second goal of the season, squaring the match at 2-2.

The three goals electrified the Orange faithful, but the pace slowed after that as both teams gained their composure.

Eight minutes later, Seamon struck again, slicing through the SU backline. He completed the hat trick with a score in the 63^rd minute that put Villanova back in front.

Down 3-2, Syracuse pushed forward looking for the equalizer. Head coach Dean Foti shifted senior defender Aaron Bonser (Fairport, N.Y.) into the midfield and played with three in the back to increase the team’s offensive chances. The Orange consistently attacked the Villanova goal, earning five of its seven corner kicks in the second period, but could not convert.

The Orange had one final chance to tie the match with less than 10 seconds remaining as all 10 SU field players crowded the Villanova box on a free kick. Junior goalie Robert Cavicchia (North York, Ontario) handled the restart, hitting a high serve into the box, but on the ensuing skirmish the Orange was whistled for a foul as time ran out.

“We lost track of Seamon a couple of times and he had great night,” Foti said after the match. “But we don’t have time to think about this one. We have another top-20 or top-25 team in South Florida coming in here Saturday night. Nobody’s feeling sorry for us.”

The Orange grabbed the lead 1-0 in the first half against Wednesday on sophomore Hansen Woodruff’s (Stuart, Fla.) ninth goal of the year. Woodruff fought through a Wildcats’ defender to receive a pass from classmate Tom Perevegyencev (Budapest, Hungary) in the goal mouth. He rifled a shot to lower right corner to get SU on the scoreboard, but it was ultimately Seamon's night as he tallied the fifth hat trick in the BIG EAST this season.

Cavicchia made two stops in goal for the Orange. Villanova keeper Jason Friel also finished with a pair of saves.

Syracuse held the edge in shots, 16-11, and earned seven corners to five for the Wildcats.

Rowley’s assist was his first point of the year as he continues to work his way back from a preseason knee injury. He earned a start Wednesday in the midfield replacing sophomore Kenny Caceros (Nepean, Ontario).

SU sophomore Elliott Townsend (Freeport, Maine) also started his first match of the year. He played up front with Woodruff and classmate Erik Kreider (Webster, N.Y.), who was part of the Orange’s starting 11 for the second straight game.

The Orange continues its homestand on Saturday, Oct. 27. Syracuse will host the USF Bulls at 7:00 p.m.