Nov. 3, 2008

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Providence College men's soccer team will host Villanova on Wednesday, November 5 at 2:00 p.m. at Glay Field in the BIG EAST Championship First Round. It marks the third consecutive season that Providence will host a BIG EAST Championship match. The Friars (8-6-3, 5-5-1) finished fourth in the BIG EAST Blue Division to earn home field advantage in the first round. Villanova (7-9-2, 4-5-2) finished in fifth-place of the BIG EAST Red Division. The top two teams in each division earned a first round bye.

The Friars will be making their 10th appearance in the BIG EAST Championship, including their fourth consecutive trip. Providence is in the midst of its fourth consecutive winning season, a feat that has not been accomplished since 1970-73.

Providence clinched a home BIG EAST Championship First Round match on Saturday, November 1 with a 3-0 win over Pittsburgh. The Friars scored all three goals in the final 13:53 as junior Timothy Ritter (Weston, Mass.) was involved in all three. Ritter setup the first goal of the match in the 76th minute as sophomore Alex Redding (Newton, Mass.) scored his first goal of the season. Classmate Andrew Sousa (Fall River, Mass.) was the beneficiary of a cross from Ritter as Sousa also connected on his first goal of the season 13 seconds later. Sousa then assisted on the third goal as he led Ritter on a breakaway and Ritter was able to score his fourth goal of the season. Junior Timothy Murray (Haverhill, Mass.) made three saves to collect his 10th shutout of the season, one shy of tying the school record of 11 which was set in 1984. Ritter leads the team in scoring with four goals and four assists, while sophomore Matt Marcin (Wilmington, Del.) has four goals and two assists. Senior tri-captain Ryan Maduro (Bristol, R.I.) ranks third on the team with two goals and five assists.

The Wildcats are making their ninth appearance in the BIG EAST Championship, including the last two seasons. Villanova is coming off a 1-0 overtime loss against DePaul on Saturday, November 1 in Chicago, Ill. Prior to that match, Villanova defeated Syracuse, 1-0, on October 29 as senior Joe Taylor converted a penalty kick. Junior Michael Seamon leads the team in scoring with three goals and four assists, while sophomore Sean Mergenthal has three goals. Freshman Chris Bresnahan has started all 19 matches in goal for Villanova and has a 0.96 goals against average and seven shutouts.

The Friars and the Wildcats have met once in the BIG EAST Championship. In the 1984 BIG EAST Semifinals, the Friars defeated the Wildcats, 2-0, to advance to the championship match. Villanova leads the all-time series against Providence, 6-9-2. The last time the two teams faced each other was on September 8, 2006 as the Friars prevailed, 3-1, in Providence. Michael Narciso (Livingston, N.J.) and Kevin Neumen (Miller Place, N.Y.) each scored for PC, while Ritter and Justin Kahle (Oceanport, N.J.) had one assist each. Miles Harrison scored the lone goal for the Wildcats.

The winner of the Providence/Villanova match will advance to the BIG EAST Quarterfinals to take on the top seed in the Red Division, St. John's, on Saturday, November 8 at 7:00 p.m. in Jamaica, N.Y.