Sept. 28, 2005

Final Stats

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Sophomore Mike DelGuercio (Chatham, N.J.) headed a shot past La Salle goalkeeper Andrew Bernhard with 52 seconds left in regulation time to lift Villanova to a 1-1 tie with the Explorers on a sunshine-splashed afternoon at the Villanova Soccer Complex. This marked DelGuercio's first action of the season after being sidelined for the first eight games of the campaign with a leg injury.

Villanova (4-4-1 overall, 3-1-0 Big East) carried the action for most of the afternoon. But the key play of the first half was made by La Salle (2-4-2 overall). The Explorers' Jeremy Ortiz lofted a ball over the Villanova defense to Ryan Moseley, making a run on the left side. Moseley collected the ball and broke in Wildcat goalkeeper John Ward (Elysburg, Pa.). Moseley reached the ball before Ward and chipped a shot over his head and into the net to give the Explorers the 1-0 advantage at 38:03.

The Wildcats pressed forward in the second half and nearly created the equalizer in the first minute. But La Salle kept the ball out of its own net for most of the period, despite a 13-3 edge in shots for Villanova.

The game tying goal came when Wildcat freshman Joe Taylor (Southampton, Pa.) lofted a corner kick from the right side of the field into the box. DelGuercio, inserted back into the lineup only minutes before, got a head on the ball and knocked it past Bernhardt to tie the contest at one.

In the first overtime session it was Villanova creating the scoring chances. The best of those came when sophomore Matt Sleece (Clifton, N.J.) sent a free kick into the box and Jon Wells (Montclair, N.J.) nearly put the rebound past Bernhard. In the second extra session, La Salle's Moseley nearly earned his second score of the day but was thwarted by Ward.

Villanova owned a 29-11 advantage in shots on the day. Ward and Bernhard were each credited with four saves.

Next up for the Wildcats is a trip to South Florida for a game on Saturday evening.