University of Louisville
VILLANOVA
Women's Soccer Rolls to 5-2 Win Over Villanova
October 08, 2010 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 8, 2010
Ferguson-Dayes, Pawlik and Exeter Talk About Friday's Win
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Freshman forward Christine Exeter scored a goal and had two assists to the lead the Louisville women's soccer team to a 5-2 BIG EAST Conference win over Villanova on Friday night at Cardinal Park.
With the victory, the Cardinals improved to 9-4-0 overall and 3-3-0 in league games, while Villanova dropped to 6-8-0 overall and 1-5-0 in BIG EAST play. The five goals for Louisville are the most since a 5-0 win over Xavier on Sept. 10, 2006. The two teams also combined for the highest scoring game (seven goals) at Cardinal Park since Louisville's 5-3 win over Murray State in 2004.
Exeter (Pickering, Ont./Pickering HS) led the way for Louisville with her team-leading seventh goal of the season, which was also her third game-winning goal, and her first career assists. Also scoring goals for the Cardinals were sophomore Emily Cardell (Cincinnati, Ohio/Saint Ursula Academy) with her second of the season, senior Caitlin Rehder (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West HS) with her fourth of the season and freshman Jordan Pawlik (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger HS) with the first of her career.
"We imposed our physical presence and we imposed our attacking mentality from the start and I think that was the difference," said Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes. "Christine Exeter is a handful. They're holding her off and she's spinning around and running at them and she's a handful. She was continually able to get behind their backline and put us in position to score goals. This win keeps us in the hunt. We just have to keep taking care of ourselves and refocus for a very talented Georgetown team on Sunday."
The Cardinals moved to an early 1-0 lead in the second minute on an own goal off the foot of Villanova's Erin Ryan, who was attempting to keep the ball away from Exeter. However, the lead was short-lived as the Wildcats evened the score at 1-1 in the fifth minute on the first of two goals on the night by Heidi Sabatura. This one came as she found the lower right corner from five yards away on a cross by Channing Press.
Louisville moved back in front at 2-1 in the 26th minute as Cardell took a short cross from Exeter and scored from seven yards away. The scoring chance was setup as Exeter made a deep run down the left side of the field for her first career assist.
Villanova tied the score at 2-2 less than four minutes later as Sabatura scored her second goal of the game and her team-leading seventh of the season in the 29th minute. The goal was scored into the upper right corner from 11 yards away on an assist from Katie Ryan.
The Cardinals answered back before the halftime break as Exeter controlled a rebound on a shot off the right post by freshman Nicole Mitchell (Guelph, Ont./Bishop Macdonnell HS) and scored from two yards out for a 3-2 lead in the 42nd minute of play.
After 45 minutes of action, Louisville held an 11-5 advantage in shots, while shots-on-goal were even at 5-5. The Cardinals also held a slim 3-2 edge in corner kicks during the first 45 minutes.
Following halftime, Louisville put the game out of reach with two more goals in a span of less than nine minutes. Rehder pushed the Cardinals' lead to 4-2 in the 62nd minute with a chip from 14 yards away that got over the head of Villanova goalkeeper Jami Kranich and found the back of the net. Exeter earned her second assist of the night on the goal.
The final goal of the night came in the 70th minute as Pawlik drove through the center of the Villanova defense and found the upper right corner of the net from 12 yards away for her first career goal and the final 5-2 margin.
Overall, Louisville finished with an 18-11 advantage in shots, while Villanova had an 11-9 edge in shots-on-goal. The Wildcats also finished with a narrow 5-4 advantage in corner kicks, while both teams were whistled for five fouls each. In goal, Louisville sophomore Taylor Vancil (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North HS) finished with nine saves on the night, while Kranich had three stops overall.
Up next, Louisville will close its 2010 home schedule against Georgetown on Sunday at 1 p.m., ET at Cardinal Park. Prior to the game, which will be televised live by WHAS-TV, the Louisville women's soccer program will honor its eight seniors during the annual Senior Day activities.
