VILLANOVA, VA–Villanova's Balthi Saunders scored a pair of early goals in the first half and the Wildcats held on for the 3-0 victory over visiting NJIT Wednesday afternoon at Higgins Soccer Complex.
Villanova improves to 2-2-1 on the season while NJIT, who competed against its second Big East opponent this season (at UConn; Sept. 2) moves to 2-3-1 in the first all-time meeting between the two schools.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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The Wildcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute on a goal by Saunders who took a pass from Vincent Petrara and curled the ball inside the left post.
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Two minutes later, Saunders tallied his second goal of the game to give Villanova a 2-0 advantage.
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The Wildcats added an early second half goal off a free kick from Anthony Cousins, finding Viktor Benediktsson, who extended Villanova's lead to 3-0.
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Kent Dickey earned the shutout victory, stopping seven Highlander shots.
NOTEWORTHY
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The Highlanders held a 21-14 advantage in overall shots and 7-5 in shots on goal, led by freshman Sergio Martinez Cubel, who combined for five shots.
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Jackson Gould recorded four shots for the Highlanders – two of which were on goal followed by Hugo Tavares and Goncalo Franco with three shots apiece. In the 66th minute, NJIT had a two opportunities to score by Tavares and Gould but Dickey was able to make the stop.
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Anthony Rovito and Joseph Davis combined for a pair of shots in the game. Davis' shot in the 80th minute was on target but collected by Wildcat keeper Dickey.
NEXT UP
NJIT, which has played its first six matches on the road, will conclude its road swing on Sunday, September 18 at Rider. Kickoff is slated for 4pm.
