WATERBURY, Conn. - - Another dominating performance in the second half for the Wilmington University women's soccer team did not go unwarranted, as Chelsea Grace delivered the game-winner, defeating Post, 2-1, in overtime at LaMoy Field on Saturday afternoon.
Bouncing back from their first loss in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, the Wildcats improved to 4-1 in conference, and evened their overall record to 4-4-1 overall with the overtime victory. Post (1-7, 0-5 CACC) tied the game with a goal in the 48th minute, but couldn't keep up with the Wildcat attack in the second half and overtime, falling at home.
The Wildcats got off to a fast start, scoring the opening goal 15:14 into the contest. Senior Jenna Quaranta put the visitors on the board first, as she put a shot up and over the Eagles' goalkeeper from outside the 18-yard box for her second goal of the season, and the 1-0 lead.
Wilmington only outshot the Eagles, 5-4, for the first half, but came out firing on all cylinders following the halftime break. From the start of the second half, Wilmington took 16 shots compared to Post's three.
But one of those three shots knotted the game early in the second half. Eagles' leading score Renel Dennis tallied her sixth goal of the season off a through ball from Sabrina Sinopoli to go one-on-one Wildcats' goalkeeper Amanda Walters, beating her to the left corner for the 1-1 tie, 2:08 into the second half.
From there, the Wildcats challenged the Eagles' net minder, Grace McConnell, making her record nine saves in the second half to keep the home team in the match.
The Wildcats best opportunity to regain the lead came in the 84th minute, as a shot from Morgan Fraczkowski beat McConnell over the top, but stung off the crossbar, staying out of the goal.
The match headed into overtime, where once again the Wildcats kept the momentum and controlled the pace of play. The Wildcats put three shots on goal in the overtime period, taking five in all, but McConnell couldn't only get her hands on two of them, as the Wildcats came away with the overtime victory.
In the final minute of the first 10-minute overtime period, Grace received a pass from Fraczkowski to the right of the goal, and the freshman converted her second goal of the season to the upper left corner, winning the game with 30 second showing on the scoreboard.
In all, the Wildcats outshot the Eagles, 21-7, and earned six corner kicks compared to Post's one for the match.
McConnell made 13 saves for the Eagles, while Walters needed to only make four saves for her fourth victory of the season.
Quaranta, Grace, Franczkowski and senior Penelope Fantis led the team by registering three shots on goal each. Fraczkowski led all attackers with five shots total.
The Wildcats return home to start a four-game home stand on Tuesday, their longest of the season. They will start the four-game home stand against Holy Family, with the match slated to begin at 4 p.m.