April 9, 2008

Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. - A buzzer beater with one second left in the second overtime period spelled a heartbreaking ending for Villanova (3-8, 1-2 CAA) in a 7-6 loss to No. 20 Hofstra (5-4, 3-1 CAA) on Wednesday night at Villanova Stadium. The Pride rallied from a four-goal deficit in the second half to win by the slimmest of margins.

The clock was stopped with nine seconds remaining and the ball in Hofstra possession behind the Wildcat goal. As play restarted, a near immediate battle for control of the ball ensued, and the Pride's Michael Colleluori picked up the loose ball. He found teammate Jay Card centered in front of the net, and Card netted his third goal of the game from 10 yards out to complete the Hofstra comeback.

The game-ending sequence began after a shot by Michael Unterstein was wide left with nine seconds to play. The Pride owned an 8-4 shot advantage in extra time, including 5-2 in the second overtime period. Villanova junior goalie Andrew DiLoreto (Wilton, Conn.) was up to the task, though, as he made saves on the first five consecutive shots taken by Hofstra following the end of regulation.

The Pride rallied from a 6-2 halftime deficit by scoring the final five goals of the game and holding the Wildcats scoreless for the final 41:16 of play. After being outshot 15-6 by Villanova in the first 30 minutes, Hofstra owned a commanding 26-10 edge in the second half and overtime. DiLoreto made 11 of his 13 stops during that stretch.

The Wildcats were not without their own chances to win the game in overtime. Pride goalie Danny Orlando had two saves in extra time and both came in the final 12 seconds of the first overtime period. He stopped a shot by sophomore R.J. Lyons (Doylestown, Pa.) with 12 seconds remaining and made another save on an attempt by senior Tim Atkins (West Chester, Pa.) just before the buzzer.

Possession of the ball and a sterling defensive effort made the difference for Hofstra in the second half comeback. The Pride scored twice in the third quarter and two more times in the fourth period to tie the score at 6-6. The two goals in the final regulation period came 31 seconds apart at the 9:50 and 9:19 marks, and neither side could muster a game-winning tally in the final nine minutes of regulation.

The game's momentum appeared to be in Villanova's hands early on. Although the Pride scored the game's first goal on Tom Interlicchio's tally with 8:25 left in the first quarter, the Wildcats registered the next three scores. Freshman Mike Brennan (Manhasset, N.Y.) opened the gates for Villanova with 3:39 to play in the opening frame and Atkins scored off a feed from sophomore Paul Webber (Manhasset, N.Y.) just 15 seconds later. Junior Tim Driscoll (Montville, N.J.) scored with 26 seconds left in the first quarter on another pass from Webber, who finished with a goal and two helpers for the evening.

After a Tom Dooley goal seven seconds into the second period narrowed the Wildcat lead to 3-2, the trio of Brennan, Webber and junior Matthew Fritts (Dallas, Texas) provided three unanswered goals in the last nine minutes of the first half to help Villanova forge a 6-2 lead at the intermission.

In the third quarter, Interlicchio scored his second goal of the game 56 seconds into the period and Card made the first of his tallies with 8:50 to play in the quarter. Orlando wound up making 10 saves for Hofstra, which finished the game with a 32-25 advantage in the shot count.

The Wildcats will play their next two games on the road before returning home for the regular season finale in three weeks. Next up for Villanova is a 1 p.m. contest at Robert Morris on Saturday afternoon.