Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/12/23
From Press Release
Experience wins, and it was three of the longest-tenured veterans on the roster that lifted Villanova (1-0) to a 14-12 victory over Penn State (1-1) in the Wildcats season opener at Villanova Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Fifth year goalie Will Vitton had a near-career day with 18 saves in a sterling performance, while his fellow graduate student teammates Matt Campbell and Patrick Daly each scored a team-high four goals as the Wildcats won for the fifth time in their last eight meetings against their longtime in-state rivals.
The score was tied 12-12 late in the fourth quarter when Daly and Campbell stepped up with their biggest plays of the game. Following a failed clear by the Nittany Lions with just over four minutes to go, Daly got the ball from fifth year midfielder Austin Fraser and scored the go-ahead goal with 3:03 remaining. Villanova won the ensuing faceoff and held the ball until the end of the shot clock when Campbell added insurance with the final tally of the day to make the score 14-12 with 1:44 remaining.
Earlier in the decisive final period Penn State had scored three unanswered goals in a span of 2:09 to draw even at 12-12 with 6:13 to play. Prior to that point the Wildcats had led by as many as four goals (10-6) in the opening minutes of the second half.
“We won the last five to six minutes of the game and a lot of that had to do with our seniors,” Villanova head coach Mike Corrado said. “That was two evenly matched teams, and it was a really close game. [Penn State] went on that run to make it 12-12 but our senior leadership calmed the guys down. Will played great and then Patrick Daly and Matt Campbell stepped up on two possessions where we worked hard to get good shots and score. ‘Copes [Justin Coppola] won a couple of those faceoffs late which kept us with the ball at the end.”
The turning point in the game came after the Nittany Lions picked up a loose ball off a Wildcats shot with 4:18 to play. Penn State’s clear attempt failed when junior attackman Matt Licata forced a turnover which was picked up by freshman defenseman David Evanchick with 4:03 to go. Villanova cleared the ball a few seconds later and held possession until Fraser fed Daly for the eventual game-winner at the 3:03 mark of the quarter.
Senior faceoff specialist Justin Coppola won each of the faceoffs after the late goals by Daly and Campbell, a key reason that the Nittany Lions managed just one shot in the final 6:13 after they had tied the score. That lone attempt came with only 38 seconds remaining and was saved by Vitton in a fitting finale to the goalie’s body of work for the day.
Vitton’s 18 saves were just one off his career high set against Denver back in 2019. It was only the fifth instance dating back to available records since 2006 that a Wildcats goalie had 18 or more saves in a contest. Vitton has accounted for three of those five games, including Sunday’s outing and his career high effort to go along with another 18-save game against St. John’s during the 2019 season.
Daly had a game-high five points on four goals and one assist. Campbell added four goals and Villanova got a spark from Licata in his first career start. After playing in nine games and scoring six goals as a sophomore a year ago, Licata contributed two goals and two assists on nine shots in Sunday’s opener. Fraser also had two goals and two assists while senior midfielder Mason Reale (Westport, Conn.) chipped in with a team-high three assists.
Short-stick midfielder Gavin Burke (Haverford School) had two groundballs and two caused turnovers for the ‘Cats.
Coppola won 14-of-28 faceoffs on the day, including five of seven in the fourth quarter.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Villanova took the early 1-0 lead off a goal by Campbell. Penn State responded with a pair of goals by Luke Mercer followed by TJ Malone (Haverford School, 3G) to take a 2-1 lead with 11:44 remaining in the quarter.
Malone added his second goal of the game following a Villanova goal to keep the score within one with Penn State ahead 3-2 with 6:09 remaining.
A pair of goals by Villanova’s Fraser put the Wildcats back in the lead 4-3 with 4:36 remaining in the quarter.
Mercer tacked on the final Penn State goal of the quarter with 2:33 remaining to even the score at 4-4.
Villanova closed out the quarter with two goals to take a 6-4 lead.
The Nittany Lions opened the second quarter with a pair of goals off the sticks of Malone and Sam Sweeney to tie the game up at 6-6 with 9:22 remaining in the half.
Villanova answered with two answered goals to close the half with an 8-6 lead.
The Wildcats added two goals to open the third quarter to increase their lead to 10-6 with 12:40 remaining in the period.
Jack Traynor (Malvern Prep) and Chris Jordan added a pair of extra-man goals to the Nittany Lions score to cut the Villanova lead to 10-8 with 3:57 remaining in the quarter.
Villanova and Penn State each scored a goal to close out the quarter to make the score 11-9 Villanova after three.
After Villanova started the fourth quarter with a goal, Penn State tallied three unanswered goals off the sticks of Mac Costin (Haverford School), Matt Traynor (Malvern Prep, 2G), and Jordan to tie the game up at 12-12 with 6:13 remaining in the game.
Villanova had the last word scoring two goals in the final minutes of the quarter to end up with the 14-12 victory. Pup Buono (Malvern Prep) had two groundballs and two caused turnovers on defense for the Lions.
GOALTENDING
Jack Fracyon allowed 14 goals on 42 shots and dropped his record to 1-1 on the year.
