NEWARK, Del. - - After clinching the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Regular Season Championship on Tuesday with a 6-0 win over Georgian Court, the Wilmington University women's soccer team goes into the CACC Tournament as the number one seed, hosting No. 8 seed Felician College on Sunday at 12 noon at the WU Athletics Complex.
The game, which was originally scheduled to be played on Monday at 2 p.m. was pushed back to Sunday due to the threat of Hurricane Sandy. Fans that cannot make the trip to Newark can follow the action through a live video stream, provided by the Wilmington athletic department for free.
Weather.com Report:
Frankenstorm, i.e. Hurricane Sandy, is scheduled to hit Newark on Sunday with temperatures reaching a high of 56 degrees with a 60 percent chance of rain. The wind will gust at 16 miles per hour towards the northeast. Any cancellation or postponement will immediately be updated on www.wilmu.edu/athletics and on twitter at @WilmUAthletics.
The Series:
Sunday will be the 11th meeting between the two programs since the Wildcats joined the NCAA ranks prior to the fall of 2004. Including a 2-0 win at Felician earlier this season, the Wildcats hold a 7-3 all-time advantage over the Golden Falcons. The teams have met in the CACC Tournament once, with Wilmington coming out on top, 6-3, in the 2010 CACC Quarterfinals. During that year, Wilmington was also the number one seed, hosting Felician as the No. 8 seed.
The Last Meeting Between the Teams:
On October 13 of this year, the Wildcats headed to Lyndhurst, N.J. to take on the Golden Falcons. Needing a victory to keep pace directly behind Philadelphia in the CACC standings, the Wildcats came away with a 2-0 victory to move to 7-1-1 in the conference at that point. Junior Chelsea Grace scored the game-winner in the 49th minute, getting a cross from Brittany Rhodes on a counter attack. Senior Vikki Zipf put the game away with her only penalty kick attempt of the season in the 77th minute. Amanda Walters made three saves for the shutout, her fourth of the season to that date. The Golden Falcons head a 17-15 advantage in shots, and earned two more corners for the match, 6-4.
All-Time Record in CACC Tournament:
The Wildcats won their second regular season championship this season, but are looking to take it into the postseason, as the last time they won the regular season (2010) they were eliminated in the semi-final.
Officially, the Wildcats are 2-4-3 overall in the CACC Tournament, making it all the way to the Tournament Championship in 2004 as the No. 2 seed.
In 2004, the Wildcats tied Caldwell, 0-0, after two overtimes, but advanced to the championship on penalty kicks, 4-3. They then went on to tie Dominican, 0-0, after two more overtime periods, but lost in the shootout, 3-0.
The team returned to the tournament in 2005 as the No. 5 seed, defeating Dominican, 3-2, in the quarterfinals to square off against top seeded Holy Family. The Tigers defeated Wilmington, 4-1, in the semi-finals.
After a year hiatus, the Wildcats returned in 2007 as the No. 4 seed, tying Dominican, 2-2, after two overtime periods. The Wildcats advanced to the semifinals with a 4-2 shootout win. Once again, they met Holy Family in the semis and were knocked out of the playoffs by the top seed, 1-0.
After another year hiatus, the Wildcats earned the No. 5 seed in 2009, but were once again defeated by the Tigers, 1-0, this time in the quarterfinals.
After winning the regular season title in 2010, the Wildcats defeated Felician, 6-3, in the quarterfinal before falling to holy Family, 3-0, in the semis.