Villanova women open season with entertaining 3-0 win over Marist

Villanova women continued where they ended last season, picking back up with an entertaining 3-0 win over Marist in front of an enthusiastic opening day crowd at Higgins Soccer Complex on Thursday.

Grad transfer Jackie Richards had a goal and an assist, junior midfielder Brigid Molloy had a pair of assists, junior Maddie Fried had the opener and Gabby Koluch headed home the third of the day in her college debut to lead the Wildcats.

Second-year head coach Samar Azem started a lineup that featured three rookies and two transfers making their debuts and while they started out on the front foot controlling most of the possession it wasn’t until after the water break that they were unable to unlock a Marist defense that was content to sit in, give up space on the wings and jam the middle.

Molloy unlocked the defense seconds after play resumed in the 26th minute with a line-splitting through ball into the box for Fried, who calmly finished the shot on the run to put the hosts in front.

“After the water break we just all kind of said ‘we’re getting there, we’re finding it in the pockets, let’s continue to play together’ and we ended up finding the back of the net,” Molloy said. “We had some great runs out of midfield with Maddie Fried and that combination and Jackie just being Jackie scoring another goal from 18 out.”

Less than three minutes later Richards doubled the lead when she collected a ball from Molloy near the top of the box, took a touch, turned and fired a curling ball into the upper right corner of the net.

“She’s just incredible and she makes everyone around her better,” Molloy said of Richards.

Azem said the water break was more than just a pick-me-up and chance to regroup but a display of the team culture she’s been trying to instill in the squad since her arrival in 2022.

“What I loved about that water break is we’ve really been spending a lot of time on what camaradarie and team really looks like and as soon as the water break happened the players had a cup of water and gatorade for everyone that came off,” Azem said. “I think it just gave the right bit of energy and it was a really cool moment. We were able to make some adjustments right before that and we talked about how we wanted to open up that space and the players did an amazing job of solving some of those problems.”

Up 2-0, Villanova was able to dictate play and cut down Marist’s chances in transition and set pieces. Keeper Payton Woodward had to make just one stop while the center backs connected well and the outside backs were able to contribute to the attack bombing forward. Both rookies across the back – Canadian center back Ire Omatayo and Marlton, N.J. native and left back Olivia Marrone – had strong outings and Richards and fellow transfer Alex Fava had memorable debuts.

Koluch’s goal in the 87th minute put the exclamation point on the afternoon when she headed home a powerful right-footed cross from Richards, capping a 47-minute debut off the bench for the midfielder from Freehold, N.J.

The assist for Richards was another jaw-dropping moment on a day when she showed her experience and class in multiple facets of the game.

“The team has done an amazing of really bringing (Jackie) in and allowing her to be herself on the field and try to figure out how she plays and she’s done a great job figuring out how this team plays,” Azem said of Richards, who she coached previously at Campbell. “She’s such a dangerous and lethal player.”

Though a home opening victory is always a cause for celebration – and extended a four-game unbeaten streak dating back to 2022 – the Wildcats didn’t spend too much time in it with Lehigh coming to town for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Sunday.

“I’m proud of the team, proud of everything around today but tomorrow’s a new day and we have a lot of work to do,” Azem said.