NEWARK, Del. – A goal in each half by the Wilmington University women's soccer team would be enough as they defeated cross-town rival Goldey-Beacom, 2-1, on Tuesday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex for Senior Day.
It was a slow start for both teams, as Emily Navarrete had the first shot of the day for the Wildcats (7-8-1, 6-4-1 CACC) in the 22nd minute of play. Goldey-Beacom (9-5-2, 7-3-1 CACC) had a stretch of two minutes with three shots and two corner kicks, but the Wildcats defense would hold on to keep it a scoreless game.
In the 30th minute of play, in an effort to play the ball in the box, Alex Keck served a ball from 35 yards out that had a high enough bounce to jump over the Lightning's keeper and roll into the back of the net for the Wildcats to take a 1-0 lead. Wilmington would have an opportunity in the final seconds of the first half, but would take the one goal lead into halftime.
In just 26 seconds into the second half, Kailey Hyland would put the Wildcats in front 2-0 on a cross from the left side which was deflected by a defender to find the back of the net for her third goal of the year. Kasie Lambert would have a free kick opportunity in the 63rd minute, but the shot would be just over the crossbar.
The Wildcats would maintain the tempo for most of the contest, but a foul in the corner of the box would give the Lightning a chance on a penalty kick in the 75th minute to decrease the lead to 2-1.
Jessica Unsihuay gave Wilmington their last chance on a shot from the top of the box but Goldey-Beacom's keeper was able to get hand on it to send it over the net.
Alex Keck would score her first goal of the year on a pass from Allison Hartwyk, before freshman Kailey Hyland scored the game-winning goal in the 45 minute. Emily Camp made three saves on four shots in the net for WilmU.
The Wildcats will have their final regular season contest on Saturday when they travel to Concordia for a 12:00 p.m. matchup.
