Press Release Written by Nathan Foltz
NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University women's soccer team just couldn't break through on Tuesday, as Chestnut Hill spoiled the Wildcats' Senior Day game with a 1-0 defeat in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference matchup at the WU Athletics Complex.
The loss is the Wildcats' second of the season and first in conference play, dropping them to 7-2-6 overall and 4-1-5 against CACC opponents. The Griffins, meanwhile, still have only a single loss of their own in conference matches, but are 8-1-0 against those teams and hold an 8-6-0 overall record for the year. For the moment, Chestnut Hill slides ahead of Jefferson for first in the conference standings, 24-22, with the three standing points from today's victory. Wilmington, meanwhile, is holding on to a fourth-place spot, six points ahead of Felician.
The only scoring action of the game came early, after only 51 seconds had run off the clock. The retreating Wilmington defense kicked the ball up in the air a few yards outside of the box, attempting to get it back to Arianna Myers in goal, but a Griffin darted in and chested the ball around Myers to set up a goal into the open net.
Wilmington put one shot on goal while Chestnut Hill could only muster a second in the first half, as both defenses held strong going into the break. After putting two more shots on in the first few minutes of the second half, the Wildcats were given a great opportunity for the rest of the game thanks to a Griffin red card in the 62nd minute. The majority of the next 28 minutes were played in Chestnut Hill's half, but despite the extended man advantage, Wilmington only managed to register four more shots through the final buzzer, sealing their fate.
Myers made one save in the game while not facing much action in the second half. Shots were 12-4 (4-2 SOG) and corners were 2-0, both in favor of Wilmington.
The Wildcats will have one more regular-season conference match to solidify their place in the standings, coming next Wednesday against cross-town rival Goldey-Beacom at Abessinio Stadium in Wilmington. They'll get a non-conference tune-up match before that, though, as the team will travel to New York and take on St. Thomas Aquinas on Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
