Sept. 18, 1997

Villanova Ties No. 10 Rutgers, 1-1

The Villanova men's soccer team went into Rutgers with a two game winning streak and tied the No. 10 nationally ranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights 1-1 on Wednesday, Sept. 17, picking up one point in the Big East Conference standings.

The first half was a defensive battle, with the Wildcat defense stifling several Scarlet Knights scoring opportunities. At the 32:00 mark in the first half, Rutgers (2-2-1) finally broke open the scoring on a goal by Brian Piesner, and the game remained 1-0 going into intermission.

In second half, the defenses again dominated play with Wildcat sophomore Lew Domke taking Rutgers star forward Billy Walsh out of his normal offensive game, and Wildcat freshman Jim Curtin disrupting the Scarlet Knights' offensive flow.

With 7:01 remaining, the Wildcats got on the board tying the game at one, as sophomore Donavan Hornby took pass by senior James Corcoran and beat Rutgers' goalie Steve Widdowson for his third goal of the season. Neither offense was able to score in the remaining seven minutes, sending the game went into overtime.

In overtime, an offsides call ended a potential Rutgers scoring threat and both defenses held, sending the game into the second of two 15 minute overtime periods. In the second overtime, Villanova senior goalie Matthew Westfall saved two Scarlet Knight shots, giving him 16 for the game and the game ended in a 1-1 tie. With the tie, Villanova's record moves to 2-2-2 overall and 1-0-1 in the Big East Conference.

Villanova returns home for Big East Conference play, as the Wildcats host the University of Connecticut on Sunday, Sept. 21, at 1 pm.