NEW CASTLE, Del. - - A dominating 90 minutes of play by the Wilmington University women's soccer team resulted in a 4-0 victory over cross town rival Goldey-Beacom in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference action at the Kirkwood Soccer Complex on Tuesday afternoon.
Wilmington (2-2-1, 2-0 CACC) held a 25-1 shot advantage over the Lightning (0-4, 0-3 CACC) and scored two goals in each half for its biggest explosion of offense since a six goal outburst against Felician in the CACC Tournament in 2010.
"I'm proud of how we came in mentally focused for a conference match," head coach Josh Ruggiero said speaking of the subtle improvements from last year's squad. "The girls know there is always something on the line when there is a CACC opponent across the field and we learned that the hard way last year. Every CACC game matters."
The coach barely had time to settle onto the bench in the first half as Victoria Vasapolli got the scoring spree started with a goal 2:27 into the match. Vasapolli received a pass in the middle of the 18 yard box, beating Lightning goalkeeper Alyssa Vetrano for her third goal of the season.
Senior Brittany Rhodes made it 2-0 in favor of the visitors in the 19th minute as she touched home a long free kick off the foot of Vikki Zipf. Rhodes came off the line uncovered and was one-on-one with the keeper at the 12 yard mark. It was Rhodes first goals of the season.
The second half started slowly for the Wildcats, but their constant pressure finally wore down the Goldey-Beacom defense as they were able to put home two more goals in the last five minutes.
Penelope Fantis made it 3-0 with the half's first goal, as she headed home a gorgeous cross from Rhodes on the right end line. Rhodes had a clear path down the right side line and came at the goal on the right end line. As she crossed into the 18 yard box, she flicked one towards the front of the goal where a wide open Fantis was to redirect the header with three minutes remaining in regulation.
With 27 second remaining, Morgan Fraczkowski capped the scoring with a similar play as Fantis, this time finishing a cross from Fantis on a volley into a wide open goal to make it 4-0. Fantis was the one who made a run on the left side, crossing it to Fraczkowski from the left end line.
"It was nice to see our forwards and midfielders put something things together, building some momentum," Ruggiero said of the four goal effort. "Anytime you play your crosstown rival, no matter what the records are, it's going to be a battle. Luckily we came out strong today and took an early advantage so that luckily our mistakes in the middle of the game weren't as severe."
The Wildcats earned seven corners to Goldey-Beacom's two for the match, while Vetrano made 10 saves in goal for the Lightning. Wildcat goalkeeper Amanda Walters picked up her second win of the season without needing to make a save.
The Wildcats return home on Thursday to face Bridgeport starting at 3 p.m. The Purple Knights were ranked 12th in the NSCAA Preseason National Poll but are currently unranked and 0-3-1 overall following a 2-2 tie to Georgian Court on Saturday.
