Press Release written by Mitchell Coll
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NEWARK, DEL. --- The Wildcats scored six in a victory in their Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference opener against the Caldwell Cougars this Sunday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.
This win will go down as an historic one for head coach Nick Papanicolas, as he earned his 202nd career win. Papanicolas now has the most wins by a head coach in CACC history. Since taking over the program in 2004, Papanicolas has gone 202-110-35, for a winning percentage of .633 in more than 18 seasons.
The Wildcats (2-2-2, 1-0 CACC) wasted no time getting on the board as Ryuga Uchigashima found himself in the right place at the right time as he took advantage of a dropped cross by the goalkeeper. Uchigashima found it on his foot in the 4th minute and put it away for goal number one.
Two minutes later, Marius Skattum Dahl played a through ball up the middle to Marcus Hedemann, who took care of the rest by putting away the Wildcats' second goal six minutes into the contest.
In the 15th minute, Richard Thompson drove down the right side from his right back position and crossed in the ball low from the right side of the box. The cross found the foot of Tajhay Williams, who finished the cross on his first touch. William's goal put the Wildcats up 3-0 after 15 minutes of play.
In the 24th minute, Mads-Emil Roestbjaerg was subbed on, and Roestbjaerg found the back of the net in the 25th minute. Max Norden crossed the ball from the left side of the box, and Roestbjaerg finished the cross off of his first touch. Roestbjaerg's goal put the Wildcats up 4-0 in the 25th minute.
Nine minutes later, Chavez Brooks found Roestbjaerg making a run down the right side. The two connected as Roestbjaerg found himself one-on-one with Caldwell's keeper, and his shot found the goal to make it 5-0 Wildcats.
The Wildcats scored number six of the half off a counterattack started by Osiel Robledo. Robledo quickly found Pol Romero, who then saw Malcolm Young. Young took care of the rest with another one-touch finish from his right foot that found the lower left corner of the net.
Heading into the second half, the Wildcats had a comfortable lead at 6-0 over the Cougars. Papanicolas switched up the lineup for the second half, including a goalkeeper change from Bas Markus to Yvan Moundou. Markus finished the game with one save and earned his second season win.
The Wildcats had three good opportunities at goal in the second half. The first chance came in the opening minutes as Malcolm Young ripped a shot from the left side in the 47th minute, but an even better save by Caldwell's Dylan Valencia kept it out of the net. The second chance came on a free kick opportunity by Paul Young Jr. from 20 yards out that missed high in the 78th minute. Young Jr. then found the head of Pol Romero in the 82nd minute of a corner kick but again was stopped by Valencia.
The Wildcats finished with 19 shots to Caldwell's three and had a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks. They will travel to Chestnut Hill College to play the Griffins on Wednesday, September 14th, at 7:00 PM. Their next home game is next Saturday, September 17th, to take on Dominican College at 2:30 PM.
