I Bleed Blue and White

The past few weeks have been nothing short of spectacular for the various Villanova teams. Maybe it was the soft non-conference schedule that each team stole from the basketball program, or maybe it was just one of those weeks. Now that conference play has begun all across the country, things are only going to get tougher.

It was still a good though as the ‘Nova athletics program record of 4-3-1 for the week.

Football (4-0, 1-0)

• It was all smiles Saturday as the football team demolished Northeastern 56-7. A week after being benched, QB Chris Whitney split time with Antwon Young and both performed well in the rout. They’ll be hosting William & Mary next week in a nationally televised game.

Men’s Golf

• The team traveled to North Carolina for the Sea Trails Intercollegiate and came away with a 6th place team finish in the 16 team field. Junior Brendan Kelly led the team with a 13th place individual finish.
• Assistant coach Jake Moran received the GCAA Meritorious Service Award. Moran is in his 2nd season as assistant coach after stepping down from the head coaching spot after 15 years.

Men’s Soccer (5-3-1, 2-2)

• An early goal was all Georgetown needed as it held on to defeat ‘Nova 1-0 last Friday.
• The team rebounded nicely with a 4-1 victory at Seton Hall on Sunday. Mike Seamon had a career-night with 2 goals and 2 assists in the victory.

Field Hockey (6-2, 1-0)

• In a midweek contest, Villanova defeated Penn 4-0 to continue their winning ways. Emily Donaldson and Meg Ryan both recorded 3 assists in the team’s 4th consecutive win.

Women’s Soccer (8-1-2, 1-1-1)

• The women took advantage of two goals from Heidi Sabatura in the 1st half and cruised to a 3-1 win over visiting Seton Hall on Friday afternoon. Kelly Eagan had the other goal for ‘Nova.
• Two overtimes couldn’t separate Villanova and Rutgers on Sunday as the teams finished in a 1-1 deadlock. Rachel Schuyler scored her first career goal on 25 minutes for ‘Nova in the draw.

Women’s Volleyball (11-4, 0-2)

• Things came crashing down for the volleyball team this week as they began BIG EAST play. After a string of 6 consecutive wins, the team fell 3-0 to Cincinnati in their conference opener and then again 3-1 to Louisville.

Time to look around campus and check in on the other sports programs again. This past week was a particularly good one for the Wildcats, as they compiled an overall record of 7-2 and a 4th place finish. And the Giants won too. So all is good.

Let’s take a closer look.

Football (2-0)

• After their victory over Lehigh, the football team moved up one spot to #2 in the country in the Sports Network Top 25.

Men’s Soccer (3-1-1)

• They started off the weekend by beating Binghamton 2-1 behind goals from Stephen Paresi on 36 minutes and Kevin Garica on 80. It was a crappy, rainy night and the ‘Cats were able to pull out the win. Kudos.
• They finished things off in similar fashion on Sunday when they beat winless Fordham 3-1. Adam Amann scored just under 6 minutes into the contest and goals from Kyle McCarthy (29′) and Will Ogden (78′).

Women’s Soccer (6-0-1)

• Katie Ryan scored a goal with just over 4 minutes remaining in regulation to give the ‘Cats a 1-0, but Vermont equalised 2 minutes later. It wasn’t until the 103rd minute that Ryan hit home the winner to give the Wilcats a 2-1 victory.
• Sunday was much less frantic as goals from Ryan and Heidi Sabatura gave Villanova a 2-0 victory over Deleware.
• Ryan’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed as she was named to the Big East Honor Roll for the 2nd time this year.

Field Hockey (3-2)

• Nobody said facing the country’s #2 ranked team would be easy, and the ladies fell 7-0 to North Carolina in their first game of the weekend.
• They rebounded nicely however, with a 7-1 victory over Appalachian State behind a career-high 4 goals from Meredith Sabatini.

Men’s Golf

• The men’s golf team opened their season at The Navy Fall Classic in Annapolis, MD. Junior Brendan Kelly secured a 3rd place finish for himself and led the team to 4th place overall.

Women’s Volleyball (7-2)

• In their first home match of the season the team took care of business, sweeping UMBC 3-0 behind strong performances from Maggie Mergen and Kim Maroon.
• The final game of the Villanova Classic was a little tougher, but the team prevailed again by beating Princeton 3-2 behind Maggie Mergen and freshman Krista Andersen.
• Another accolade for a ‘Nova athlete as Kim Maroon makes the Big East Honor Roll.

And because this really hurts my head to read (I’m not a big tennis guy), I’ll just say that both the men’s and the women’s tennis teams opened up their seasons. Sounds like the men won. The women did not fair as well.