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NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University women's soccer team secured the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament with a 3-1 win over Chestnut Hill in the regular season finale on Wednesday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.
With the win, the Wildcats (10-4-3, 7-2-2 CACC) earned a home game in the CACC Tournament First Round game, and will square off against crosstown rival and No. 5 seed Goldey-Beacom. The first postseason game will be on Tuesday, November 9 at 1:00 p.m. at the WU Athletics Complex.
Needing a win or tie to secure the No. 4 seed on Wednesday, it took the Wildcats some time to find the back of the net. Despite outshooting the Griffins (6-8-1, 4-7 CACC), 14-4, in the first half, it wasn't until the 38th minute that the Wildcats found the back of the net.
Sammie Bennett played a ball into the box, looking for a charging Jana Badia. Badia redirected the ball right into the outstretched arm of a Chestnut Hill defender and the referee granted the penalty kick. Kasie Lambert stepped up and buried her third PK of the year for her fourth goal.
That seemed to have loosened the Wildcats up, as not even a minute later they were extending their lead. Julia Yuhase played a ball into the corner for Anastasia Diakos who promptly crossed it into the box. Her cross went over the heads of everyone at the near post, finding Jimena Garcia Risoto on the back post for the goal just 55 seconds later to make it 2-0 in the 39th minute.
The Griffins made things interesting early in the second half, as a ball over the top found its way to their leading scorer Maddie Jimenez. She buried her 10th goal of the game to cut the deficit in half, 2-1, in the 48th minute.
But the Wildcats regained their composure in the second half and eventually lengthened their lead in the 63rd minute. Jimena Garcia Risoto was at it again, scoring a toe-poke goal for her second of the game and ninth of the season. Kasie Lambert won a 50-50 ball and Krysta Memis slotted Garcia Risoto into the box for the goal.
The Wildcats outshot the Griffins, 20-9, in the match and earned more corners, 4-3. Emily Camp made three saves for her 10th win of the year.
Goldey-Beacom put the pressure on the Wildcats by finishing off Jefferson, 2-0, midway through the Wildcats' game. But the Wildcats won to earn the home game. Goldey-Beacom went 10-6 overall and 7-4 in CACC play. The Wildcats won the regular season contest, 4-3, on September 29 at Goldey-Beacom.
