On Saturday, Nov. 1, Villanova women’s soccer (9-8-1, 4-5-1 Big East) closed its 2025 season with a 0-0 draw to Butler (5-4-8, 2-3-5 Big East). Villanova finished the season in fifth place in the Big East conference standings, narrowly missing the cutoff for playoffs.
Although the draw awarded the Wildcats one point in conference standings, giving them a total of 13, a tie was not enough to secure their appearance at the Big East Tournament. Creighton earned the fourth and final playoff spot with 15 points.
This offseason, the Big East Soccer Tournament was shrunk from six teams to four.
Senior goalkeeper Hannah Dickinson finished her last game as a Wildcat with a shutout, recording five saves.
The shutout marks Dickinson’s eighth of the season, a testament to her contributions to the team since transferring from the University of Southern California last season. Her accomplishment comes shortly after being named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll on Oct. 27.
The tie with Butler was a back-and-forth battle, although Butler outshot Villanova, 22-11, throughout the game. While the Bulldogs led the game in shots, the Wildcats outshot the Bulldogs on frame. Villanova had six total shots on goal, while Butler had five.
Villanova opened the first half looking to get an opportunity in front of the goal. The first threatening Wildcat chance came in the 26th minute from freshman forward Avrie Nelson. Butler goalkeeper Addison Ash came in with a clutch save to keep the first half scoreless.
The Wildcats entered the second half hungry for a game-winner, applying pressure to the Butler defense.
Unable to put anything behind the net, Villanova saw its last chances in the final minute of the game.
“It was a pretty intense last few minutes, almost like a ping-pong game,” head coach Samar Azem said. “Both teams were like, ‘Let’s try to win this.’ Our players were exhausted, but they kept on fighting as if they weren’t.”
After a Wildcat cross from the right side of the 18-yard box was driven into the box, both Villanova and Butler scrambled for the ball. A Villanova attempt on goal was saved by Ash.
Only moments after, the Wildcats looked towards the goal again. Junior forward Alex Little drove towards the goal, one-on-one with Butler’s goalkeeper. In a critical moment for both teams, Ash saved the ball before the whistle blew.
In previous years, the top six teams in the conference were in contention for Big East Tournament play. However, this year, only the top four teams will qualify, making the journey for qualification more demanding than ever before.
The Wildcats were neck-and-neck with Creighton for the fourth-place spot in the conference.
Villanova needed Creighton to lose or tie in their last conference game. However, on Saturday, Creighton earned three points in conference standings and secured a fourth place finish in a 3-0 victory over St. John’s. Creighton will join Xavier University, the University of Connecticut and Georgetown in the Big East Tournament.
“Last year we were one win away from finishing in sixth to qualify for the tournament, and we felt crushed by that, ” Azem said. “And this year we were two points away from finishing fourth, and we felt crushed by that again.”
Despite falling short of postseason hopes, the 2025 campaign marks a promising trajectory in the success of Villanova women’s soccer. Built on a foundation of younger players, graduates and transfers new to the team, the Wildcats finished conference play with their best regular season record since 2019.
“For us, this season is a building block. We don’t want to be a one-hit wonder,” Azem said. “You look at last year and its statistics, almost everything was the same. We were solid defensively and solid offensively, only we just got better. And with that core group and a significant number of returners coming back in the 2026 season we are going to take a step forward again next year.”