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NEWARK, Del. - - An overtime rebound thwarted the comeback effort of the 13th ranked Wilmington University men's soccer team, as Georgian Court upset the Wildcats, 3-2, in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference thriller on Wednesday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.
The loss snapped a streak of 28 consecutive unbeaten home games for the Wildcats, dating back to the 2017 season. The last time the Wildcat dropped a match at the WU Athletics Complex was on October 30, 2017 in the CACC Tournament First Round game, 1-0, to Post. The last time the Wildcats dropped a regular season contest at home was on September 30, 2017, 2-1, against Caldwell. The lone tie in the previous 28 home games was on October 5, 2019, 1-1, against Post.
On Wednesday, the Lions (10-1-3, 7-1-1 CACC) gave the Wildcats (13-2-1, 7-2 CACC) just their fifth deficit of the year, scoring in the fifth minute of action. Georgian Court then gave the Wildcats their first multi-goal deficit of the year with another goal in the first half, scoring in the 32nd minute to take a 2-0 lead going into the break. NCAA Division II leading goal scorer Louis Silva scored the first goal and assisted on the second goal for the Lions.
Despite trailing, 2-0, the Wildcats led in shot, 7-5, and corners, 5-2, in the first half. But The Lions' Gianluca Cersosimo made three first half saves to keep the Wildcats off the board.
The Wildcats pushed the envelope in the second half, but it wasn't until their 11th corner of the afternoon that they would strike.
Richard Thompson played a ball into the middle of the box, finally finding Carson Talboys who headed it home from the penalty spot, just under the cross bar in the 76th minute for his fifth goal of the year.
Six minutes later, another corner eventually found the back of the net for the game-tying goal. The initial corner was defended but the Wildcats regained possession. Shoki Yosida had it on the left side of the field, playing a ball into the box. The ball got knocked down, but directly to the foot of Carson Talboys. He fired it home for his second of the game, sixth of the season to tie the game, 2-2, with 8:31 left.
Hakim Williams had a chance to win it in regulation, but his left footed volley in the final minute went off the post and stayed out, sending the game into overtime.
The Wildcats put the initial pressure on the Lions in the overtime period, but it was the Lions that would have the final answer. Louis Silva sprung loose own the left side once again, but Konstantinos Parisis was able to make the initial save. But Silva jumped on the rebound and slid it across the box to a wide-open Noah Hamouda for the game-winning goal in the 95th minute.
The Wildcats outshot the Lions, 7-9, including 9-2 in the second half, and earned more corners, 14-3. Parisis made four saves for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats will hit the road for the final time in the regular season this weekend, as they travel to Caldwell on Saturday. The opening whistle is set for 2:30 p.m. in Caldwell, New Jersey.
