FINAL SCORE: Villanova 1, Vermont 0
BURLINGTON, Vt. – A penalty kick goal in the 28th minute was the deciding marker as Villanova (12-7-1, 5-4-1 Big East) defeated Vermont (13-5-2, 6-1-1 AE) 1-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night at Virtue Field.
                                                                                                              
RELATED LINKS
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Box Score: Web | PDF
Postgame Press Conference: Coach Dow
Photos
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"Soccer is pretty cruel," said head coach Rob Dow. "We gave up a goal that we shouldn't have given up – a goal that's uncharacteristic of this group. But we continued to be relentless and got better throughout the game. We found another gear, but the ball didn't go in the net. We didn't score, but we created enough to do so and couldn't get the win."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Villanova's best opportunity of the night was on the deciding penalty kick. In the 28th minute, Seidu Shamsadeen drew a foul inside the 18-yard box and Lyam Mackinnon was chosen for the penalty kick. The midfielder delivered a shot into the upper right corner for the 1-0 lead.
• The Catamounts looked to counter with five shots to close out the first half, but couldn't find the equalizer. Nacho Lerech directed three shots in a five-minute span. The UVM forward tested Carson Williams (5 saves) in the 40th minute with a low kick. Minutes later, Adrian Schulze Solano fired a blast from the top of the box that whistled high over the goal.
• Vermont came out firing with five unanswered shots in the first 7:02 of the second half. Schulze Solano had another great chance, this time from inside the 18-yard box, that was deflected wide of the Villanova goal. A scoring attempt from Alex Nagy was also blocked inside the 18.
• The UVM attack continued to search of the equalizer, outshooting the Wildcats 6-2 in the middle portion of the half. Lerech hammered a kick from outside of the box in the 78th minute that missed the right post by the narrowest of the margins. The graduate student then rifled a kick shortly after that forced Williams to dive to his right for the save.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Catamounts outshot the Wildcats 30-9 on the night – Lerech had 13 shots for Vermont, which is the highest single-game total in a Division I game this season.
• Vermont directed a total of 18 shots in its bid for a second-half equalizer.
• UVM's 13 wins on the season is tied for the third-highest total in program history.
• Goalkeeper Nate Silveira (1 save) matches the second-highest single-season win total (13) at UVM. Nagy's 10 assists are the third-highest single-season total in program history. 

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