University of Louisville
Villanova
Women's Soccer Edged in OT at Villanova
October 26, 2007 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 26, 2007
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Erin Byrnes' goal with a little under three minutes remaining in the second overtime gave Villanova a 1-0 win over the University of Louisville on a rain-soaked field Friday afternoon.
Louisville (11-4-2, 6-3-1 BIG EAST) will now meet Georgetown on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., with the winner capturing the two-seed in the National Division of the BIG EAST. A tie Sunday would secure the spot for the Cardinals.
The Wildcats are battling for the final birth into the BIG EAST Championships in the National Division.
The match pitted the top two defensive teams in the BIG EAST statistically as well as the top two keepers in VU's Jillian Loyden and UofL's Joanna Haig.
After Haig made a stop on the initial shot of the match in the first minute, the Cardinals had shots by Kate Cunningham and two off the boot of Jen Avila turned away by Molly Williams, who played the first 12-plus minutes of the match for Nova before she was replaced by Loyden.
First half shots were 9-5 in favor of the Wildcats, with each team making three saves.
In the second half the teams continued to exchange scoring chances. Loyden was called upon to make four saves and Haig three.
Lindsay Boling put a shot on to open the first overtime, as the Cards had the only two shots of the first extra frame.
Villanova (9-3-6, 3-3-4 BIG EAST), playing in their seventh overtime match of the season, picked up the game winner at 107:14. Byrnes scored her fourth of the season on an assist from Erin Hardman.
The loss for the Cardinals snaps a season-long five match unbeaten streak and is the first overtime loss in six matches this season.
Both the Cardinals and the Hoyas are guaranteed a first-round bye in the conference championship, with quarterfinal matches taking place on Sunday, November 4 on campus sites of the higher seeds.
