Press Release written by Nathan Foltz
NEWARK, Del. - - The 16th-ranked Wilmington University men's soccer team had its Homecoming showing spoiled on Saturday, falling to Bridgeport, 3-2, for its first loss of the season.in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest at the WU Athletics Complex.
The loss drops Wilmington to 5-1-2 overall and 1-1-1 in CACC play, while Bridgeport remains undefeated in conference play with a 3-0-0 record as a part of their overall record of 3-3-1.
The Wildcats went up early, cashing in a goal in the 7th minute of the contest. Tyrese Small brought the ball out of the nearside corner, finding Jhamaleek Porter inside the box. Porter made a few moves before shooting across the net, but his ball bounced off the far post. Shuntaro Morimoto was there for the rebound, though, driving the ball into the top of the net from about three yards out for his second goal of the season.
Bridgeport responded with a goal of their own in the 38th minute, beating a diving Emil Lollike to his left to tie things up going into halftime. The Purple Knights would go on to score twice more, first by taking advantage of a Wilmington turnover in their own box in the 60th minute, and then by cutting around the Wildcat keeper at the top of the box to an open net in the 69th.
Down by two, the Wildcats attempted to start a comeback in the 82nd minute. Alex Tarway fed Jacques Mason down the right side, who moved the ball towards the end line before crossing it to the middle, where Theo Faillon easily split two defenders for his fifth goal of the year. It would end up not mattering, however, as the Cats couldn't convert another try in the waning minutes of the match. They had an excellent opportunity two and a half minutes later as Tarway and Mason passed the ball back and forth before finding Michiharu Takanashi in the middle of the box, but Takanashi's shot bent just wide left. Neither squad was able to pull off another shot before the buzzer rang.
Wilmington led in shots 14-11, though eight of Bridgeport's shots were on goal compared to four for the Wildcats. Bridgeport led in corners, 3-2.
Emil Lollike played all 90 minutes for Wilmington and made five saves.
The Wildcats look ahead now to Wednesday, where they'll look to get back on track against Jefferson up in Philadelphia. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.