NEWARK, Del. - - For the 21st season in a row, spanning its entire NCAA era, the Wilmington University men's soccer program is back in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament, earning the No. 3 seed and taking on No. 6 Felician on Sunday afternoon.
The Wildcats earned the No. 3 seed for the CACC Tournament this year, going 5-2-3 in CACC play and 10-3-4 overall. Felician finished the regular season at 4-5-1 in CACC play and 8-6-3 overall on the season.
Overall, the Wildcats hold the all-time record against the Golden Falcons, 17-5-1, with Sunday being the third meeting between the two programs in the CACC Tournament. The two last met in the playoffs in 2021 when the Wildcats won 6-0 in the Quarterfinals, with the only other meeting coming in 2005 when the Golden Falcons won 2-1 in overtime.
This year, the Wildcats defeated the Golden Falcons 2-1 on October 26 in Rutherford. The Wildcats struck first thanks to Ludvig Danielsson's first goal of the year in the 36th minute off an assist from Jiung Ha before the Golden Falcons' Davide Carmignani tied it in the 69th minute with help from Kohta Yamanashi and Ayato Kanekowith. The Wildcats were then fouled in the box in the 89th minute, and Theo Faillon converted the penalty kick to secure the victory. The Golden Falcons led in shots, 11-9, including shots on goal, 6-4. Emil Lollike made five saves in the draw.
Tickets/Admission for CACC Tournament (CASH ONLY):
Adults: $10.00
Children and Senior Citizens: $5.00
Children under the age of three: Free
Links to Follow the CACC Tournament:
Live stats vs. Caldwell: https://wildcats.athletics.wilmu.edu/sports/msoc/2025-26/boxscores/20251109_lynf.xml
Video vs. Caldwell: https://wildcats.athletics.wilmu.edu/links/vddhja
CACC Tournament Central: https://caccathletics.org/tournaments/?id=24
Scouting the No. 3 Wilmington University Wildcats:
The Wildcats are coming into the Tournament with a 5-2-2 record in their last nine games. Their most recent loss was to #6 Southern New Hampshire in a close 2-1 contest, while the other was to Caldwell by the same score. Their two ties were to #13 Post and to No. 4 Jefferson, both by scores of 1-1.
The Wildcats have a relentless offensive attack, having the 9th ranked scoring offense in NCAA DII, averaging 2.50 goals per game. They take the 4th most shots per game in the country, averaging 18.00 shots per game and are 2nd in the country in shots on goal per game, averaging 8.69. Their 40 goals on the season are 10th in the country, as are their 36 assists.
The attack is once again led by Theo Faillon, who is tied for 5th in all of NCAA DII with 12 goals in 14 games on the year. In total he has 12 goals and five assists on the year for 29 points, the 5th most in the country. Behind him are four other Wildcats with double-digit point totals: Reigning CACC Rookie of the Year Michiharu Takanashi (eight goals and three assists for 19 points), senior Alex Tarway (seven goals, five assists, 19 points), sophomore Jhamaleek Porter (five goals, two assists, 12 points), and former-Golden Falcon senior Shuntaro Morimoto (four goals, three assists, 11 points).
Freshman Emil Lollike has led the way for the Wildcats in goal, starting 16 of the team's 17 games and making 58 saves for a .773 percentage (4th in the CACC) while allowing an average of 1.12 goals (3rd in the CACC). He has four shutouts on the year, coming against American International, West Chester, Mercy, and Georgian Court.
Scouting the No. 6 Felician University Golden Falcons:
The Golden Falcons finished the regular season at 4-5-1 in conference play, good for 13 points in the 11-team table. Of the five teams that finished ahead of them, they were only able to pick up a victory against Jefferson in a 3-1 contest and tied with Bridgeport 2-2. The 2025 season went much differently for the Golden Falcons than 2024, when they played to a 7-2-2 conference record, defeated Post in the CACC Championship Game, and then made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament before falling to the University of Charleston 2-1 in overtime.
The Golden Falcons (8-6-3 overall) are paced offensively by Keiji Sugiura, whose nine goals and six assists are both tops on his team, and his 24 points put him in the top 25 in the country. He's flanked by Bartu Yakkan (six goals, two assists) and Ayato Kaneko (three goals, four assists), making for a much different look at the top of the score sheet compared to last year's Elite Eight run as Suguira and Yakkan are in their first year with the program. The Golden Falcons started the year by given their netminding duties to Mathias Kristoffersen, who started 12 games and made 43 saves with a .741 save percentage and allowed 1.34 goals on average with four shutouts. Gerardo Mendez took over at halftime of an October 19 game against Georgian Court and has played every minute since, tallying 32 saves with a .821 save percentage in seven games/five starts on the year with a shutout.
Wilmington in the CACC Tournament:
2004 (0-1): #5 Caldwell def. #4 Wilmington, 3-1
2005 (0-1): #3 Felician def. #6 Wilmington, 2-1 (OT)
2006 (0-1): #3 Post def. #2 Wilmington, 1-0
2007(1-0-1): #2 Wilmington def. #3 Caldwell, 1-0 (OT); #2 Wilmington tied #4 Holy Family 1-1, Wilmington wins CACC Championship, 5-3, in PK Shootout).
2008 (0-1): #4 Post def. #5 Wilmington, 1-0
2009 (1-0-1): #1 Wilmington def. #8 Goldey-Beacom, 2-0; #1 Wilmington tied #5 Bloomfield, 0-(Bloomfield advances, 4-2, in PK shootout)
2010 (0-1): #5 Post def. #4 Wilmington, 2-1 (OT)
2011 (0-1): #7 Nyack def. #2 Wilmington, 4-0
2012 (1-1): #5 Wilmington def. #4 Bloomfield, 3-2; #1 Post def. #5 Wilmington, 1-0
2013 (1-0-1): #4 Wilmington def. #5 Concordia, 3-0; #4 Wilmington tied #1 Post, 1-1 (Post advances, 4-2, in PK shootout)
2014 (2-1): #6 Wilmington def. #3 Concordia, 2-0; #6 Wilmington def. #2 Dominican, 2-1 (2OT); #1 Philadelphia def. #6 Wilmington, 1-0
2015: (1-1): #1 Wilmington Def. #8 Goldey-Beacom. 4-0; #4 Chestnut Hill Def. #1 Wilmington 2-1 (OT)
2016 (1-1): #3 Wilmington def. #6 Goldey-Beacom, 3-0; #2 Georgian Court def. #3 Wilmington, 3-2
2017 (0-1): #6 Post def. #3 Wilmington, 1-0
2018 (2-1): #1 Wilmington def. #8 Chestnut Hill, 3-0; #1 Wilmington def. #4 Jefferson, 2-1; #2 Post def. #1 Wilmington, 2-0
2019 (1-1): #1 Wilmington def. #8 Concordia, 7-4; #5 Georgian Court def. #1 Wilmington, 4-2
2021 (1-1): #2 Wilmington def. #7 Felician, 6-0; #3 Dominican def. #2 Wilmington, 2-0
2022 (1-1): #4 Wilmington def. #5 Jefferson, 2-1; #1 Post def. #4 Wilmington, 3-2
2023 (0-1): #5 Jefferson def. #4 Wilmington, 2-1
2024 (1-1): #5 Wilmington def. #4 Caldwell, 1-0; #1 Post def. #5 Wilmington 3-2
Overall: 14-17-3
Season and All-Time Records vs. CACC Tournament Participants:
#1 Post University Eagles (7-1-7, 6-0-4 CACC): 2025: at T 1-1; All-Time: 9-15-7; CACC Tournament: 0-8-1
#2 University of Bridgeport Purple Knights (6-4-7, 5-0-5 CACC): 2025: vs. L 3-2; All-Time: 10-2-4; CACC Tournament: 0-0
#3 Wilmington University Wildcats (10-3-4, 5-2-3 CACC)
#4 Thomas Jefferson University Rams (6-7-4, 4-2-4 CACC): 2025 at T 1-1; All-Time: 10-8-3; CACC Tournament: 2-2
#5 Holy Family University Tigers (6-8-3, 4-3-3 CACC): 2025: vs. T 2-2; All-Time: 16-2-4; CACC Tournament: 0-0-1
#6 Felician University Golden Falcons (8-6-3, 4-5-1 CACC): 2025: at W 2-1; All-Time: 17-5-1; CACC Tournament: 1-1
#7 Dominican University of New York Chargers (4-9-3, 4-5-1 CACC): 2025: at W 3-2; All-Time: 10-12-1; CACC Tournament: 1-1
#8 Georgian Court University Lions (5-8-3, 4-6-0 CACC): 2025: vs. W 4-0; All-Time: 8-5-1; CACC Tournament: 0-2
2025 CACC Men's Soccer Tournament Game Schedule:
Quarterfinals (Sunday, Nov. 9, at Sites of Highest Seeds)
#8 Georgian Court at #1 Post (1 p.m.)
#5 Holy Family at #4 Jefferson (12 p.m.)
#7 Dominican at #2 Bridgeport (1 p.m.)
#6 Felician at #3 Wilmington (12 p.m.)
Semifinals (Wednesday, Nov. 12, at Sites of Highest Seeds)
Post/GCU Winner vs. HFU/Jeff Winner (TBD)
FelU/WilmU Winner vs. Dom/UB Winner (TBD)
Championship Final (Saturday, Nov. 15, at Post University)
Semifinal Winner vs. Semifinal Winner (3 p.m.)