Preview: Villanova from the blog of Patrick Fischer
It’s not often that I look forward first thing here in the blog, but this Saturday’s game vs. Villanova is a big, big game and it shouldn’t be overlooked.
The Wildcats are 4-2 after a Tuesday night loss to Princeton 14-8.
This game has the potential to be a major factor for whichever school emerges with a victory come NCAA tournament time.
Villanova has a potent, veteran offense, led by junior attackman Jack Rice, who has 14 goals already this season. He’s paired up with another junior attackman, Will Casertano, who leads the team with 19 points on eight goals and 11 assists. The third attackman is senior Kevin Cunningham, who has 15 points on nine goals and six assists.
Defensively, the Wildcats are giving up nearly 10 goals per game, but have some tremendously talented athletes. Senior John LoCascio leads the team with 27 groundballs, while fellow senior Chris Creighton has caused 11 turnovers with 13 groundballs in 2012.
Villanova isn’t considered a rising program anymore; it is a program that has arrived and can play with anyone. The Wildcats earned their second bid to the NCAA tournament last season, but were shipped out west to play at Denver. The Pioneers would go on to win and eventually made their first-ever trip to the Final Four, but Villanova gave them everything they could handle. The game was a back-and-forth struggle and was deadlocked at 10-10 going into the fourth quarter, but Denver was able to prevail with three unanswered goals in the final 15:00.
The game could also be big for the future of both programs as each recruits the other’s backyard heavily.
Villanova has six players from Maryland on its roster, including Rice and starting goalie Dan Gutierrez. Maryland has five from Pennsylvania in its roster, but four – Niko Amato, Owen Blye, Kevin Forster and Goran Murray – are key contributors and the fifth, Casey Ikeda, looked like a potential starter before going down with an injury. All five Terps are from the greater Philadelphia area.
No comments have been posted yet, be the first!
Post a comment by filling out the form below.
