Nov. 16, 2001

STATE COLLEGE, PA. - In the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, Nov. 16, in State College, Pa., the Villanova women's soccer team defeated the University of Pennsylvania, 2-0, in the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament contest. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 13-5-3 and advance to the NCAA second round to face Penn State on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 1:00 p.m. The Lady Lions defeated Bucknell 3-1 on Friday's first game to advance to Sunday's play.

"This has been a long time coming," said Clifton. "This is my 15th year of coaching soccer and this is definitely the pinnacle of my career. It is even more special to be able to do it at an institution like Villanova."

Villanova played a strong first half versus the Quakers on Friday, but saw the game go scoreless into intermission despite out-shooting Penn 4-0.

At the 63:45 mark of the second half, the Wildcat offense came alive. Junior Julie Battista lofted a cross from the left side of the field into the center of the box. Freshman forward Laura Johnson redirected the cross sending the ball into the net for the game's first goal. Johnson's eighth goal of the season gave Villanova a 1-0 advantage.

Penn attempted to tie the game up minutes later when Katy Cross sent a bullet towards the left corner of the net. Senior goalkeeper Janel Schillig dove to her right and made a fingertip save to preserve the Wildcats' 1-0 lead.

With just under 15 minutes remaining in the contest, Villanova struck again to put the game away. Sophomore Candice MacDonald took a pass from redshirt freshman Michelle Biehl, and crossed the ball to senior forward Angela Scialdone. Scialdone took the pass from MacDonald and beat Quaker goalkeeper Vanessa Scotto to increase the Wildcats' lead to 2-0.

From there, Villanova rode the back of its defense to a 2-0 shutout victory. The Wildcats, who posted their 11th shutout in 21 games this season, out-shot Penn by a 14-5 margin in the victory.

Schillig saved four shots in the game to pick up her seventh shutout of the year. Scotto took the loss for the Quakers despite saving seven shots.

Scoring:
63:45 - VU, Laura Johnson (Battista)
75:02 - VU, Angela Scialdone (Biehl, MacDonald)

Shots:
Villanova:  14
UPenn:  5

Corner Kicks:
Villanova:  4
UPenn:  3

Saves:
Villanova:  4, Janel Schillig
UPenn:  7, Vanessa Scotto

Fouls:
Villanova:  10
UPenn:  12

Off-Sides
Villanova:  2
UPenn:  1

Cards:
Villanova:  Battista (Y), 80:09
UPenn:  Snyder (Y), 74:41