NEWARK, Del. - - Senior Todd Woll picked a good time to score his first career goal as a member of the Wilmington University men's soccer team on Tuesday, knotting the score of what turned into a 1-1 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference draw with Philadelphia at the WU Athletics Complex.
The Wildcats (8-3-1, 4-2-1 CACC) responded after going down a goal early in the second half, scoring in the 76th minute to finally tie the match. Philadelphia (7-3-1, 5-1-1 CACC) had a chance to end the match at the end of regulation, but a header off a corner was saved.
The Rams were able to get on the board first in the contest, scoring on a misplay in the back by the Wildcats' defense. Failing to clear the ball out of their own penalty box, the Wildcats turned the ball over to the Rams' Jordan Lynch on the right side, who beat Frank Hall to the near post for the 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute.
The Wildcats, who controlled the ball for the majority of the contest, led the Rams in shot, 12-10, and corners, 11-4, for the match, but couldn't solve the Philadelphia defense until late.
On their eight corner of the game, the Wildcats finally broke through in the 76th minute. Freshman Geoff Velasquez's corner carried over the Ram's goalkeeper Thomas Attamante and towards the back post, but stayed out of the goal as it rung the crossbar and bounced out.
Woll, a senior defender, was there on the back post as he side volleyed the ball back towards the goal mouth. Philadelphia was able to head the ball away, but not before the ball completely crossed the goal line, knotting the game at 1-1.
Wilmington put five shots on the board in the two overtime periods and added a pair of corner kicks in the second 10 minutes, but couldn't find the back of the net for the rest of the match. It was the first tie of the season for both the Rams and the Wildcats.
Starting goalkeeper Frank Hall recorded three saves in 80:28 of game play before an injury forced him out of the contest. Junior Spyros Stergiotis came on and tallied three saves while playing the reaming 29:32. The Rams' Attamante needed to make three saves to escape with the tie.
Thursday's match against the University of the District of Columbia, a government funded school, has been postponed due to the government shutdown. The two teams are searching for a rescheduled date later in the year, but is handcuffed until the government pays its bills.
Wilmington now returns to action on Saturday, as they head to CACC rival Bloomfield for their first road game since September 24. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
