NEWARK, Del. - - Margaret Sharp scored six goals and added three assists to lead visiting St. Thomas Aquinas to an 18-3 victory over Wilmington University in non-conference action at the WU Athletics Complex on Wednesday afternoon.
The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for the Wildcats (2-2 overall) who received a pair of goals from junior Ashley Kroll. The win was St. Thomas Aquinas' (4-0) third over a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference opponent in the early portion of its 2014 schedule.
The Spartans jumped all over the Wildcats in the early going, outshooting the home team, 18-9, in the first half. St. Thomas Aquinas converted on 12 of its 18 shots in the opening 30 minutes, taking a 12-0 advantage into the halftime break.
Kroll put the Wildcats on the board in the 54th minute, scoring her fourth goal of the season with 6:00 minutes showing on the scoreboard. Freshman Gabby Spalt made it two goals in a row for the Wildcats, posting her fourth goal of the season on an unassisted mark with 3:01 to play in regulation. Kroll capped the scoring for the Wildcats, making it three straight goals for Wilmington to end the game, putting her second goal behind Kaitlyn Lonergan with 20 seconds in the contest.
Sharp put the Spartans on the board early and often, tallying the first two goals of the game, the first on the man-advantage after the Wildcats were issued a yellow card in the opening minute. Sharp scored four goal in the first half to lead St. Thomas Aquinas before adding two more in the second half to finish with six in the game and 19 on the season.
The Spartans also received hat tricks from Samantha Lowney who tallied four goals and Genevieve Stickney who recorded three goals and an assist in the contest.
Wilmington goalkeeper Corinne Dries made four stops on the afternoon while Lonergan recorded 13 stops for the Spartans, seven of which came in the first half to keep the Wildcats at an arms' reach.
The Wildcats are in the middle of their five-game home stand and have a chance to redeem themselves quickly with another home contest on Friday. They welcome Molloy to the WU Athletics Complex for another nonconference contest starting at 4 p.m.
