College Soccer
Villanova clinch first postseason berth since 2019
Villanova players have been using an actual shovel to symbolize the work they have been doing all season to get to the playoffs and with their 10th victory of the season on Wednesday afternoon they were able to celebrate with their home fans the program’s first playoff berth in seven years.
Dez Zapata and Morgan Kotch combined on a pair of goals inside 10 minutes to put the Wildcats in front and Kotch set up Amalia Cordo for a third goal in the 66th season while goalkeeper Hannah Dickinson and the back line registered the team’s 11th clean sheet of the season in a 3-0 win over DePaul.
Zapata scoring against DePaul was a book-end moment for a team that began their climb toward Big East relevance with a win at DePaul last Oct. 1 after a humiliating 9-0 loss to Xavier four days earlier. The game-winner was the Smyrna, Del. native’s first career goal and she’s been a driving force behind the attack this season with 6 goals and 7 assists.
Wednesday’s win came after the Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season in a 1-0 defeat at Butler.
“It was very important for the players to see what they are capable of,” head coach Samar Azem was quoted saying after Wednesday’s win. “For the team to see they’re capable of dominating a very good DePaul team and for these two (Zapata and Morgan Kotch) to get us on the scoreboard early and show that we’re going to take control, I love that the players got to see that.”
Villanova (10-1-5) are in second place – four points behind first place Xavier – with two games remaining, a road contest at third place Marquette on Saturday before their regular season finale back home against UConn on November 7.
The Big East Championship will be played at Maryland Soccerplex with semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 11 and the final on Saturday, Nov. 14. Currently ranked 48th in the RPI, Villanova’s only current path to the NCAA tournament is through a Big East title.
