NEWARK, Del. - - For the 20th season in a row, spanning its entire NCAA era, the Wilmington University men's soccer program is back in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament, earning the No. 5 seed and will travel to No. 4 Caldwell on Sunday afternoon.
The Wildcats earned the No. 5 seed for the CACC Tournament this year, going 6-4-1 in CACC play and 7-9-2 overall. Caldwell finished the regular season at 7-3-1 in CACC play and 8-5-3 overall on the season.
Overall, the Wildcats hold the all-time record against the Cougars, 11-6-5, with Sunday being the third meeting between the two programs in the CACC Tournament. The two teams haven't meet in postseason play since 2007, however, falling, 3-2, in 2004 and winning, 1-0, in overtime in 2007.
This year, the Wildcats and Cougars played to a 1-1 draw on October 5 at the WU Athletics Complex. The Cougars struck first with a goal in the 52nd minute with an assist from Alex Spencer, but then Theo Faillon tied the match with an assist from Tsubasa Abe in the 80th minute. The Wildcats led in shots, 11-10, including shots on goal, 9-7. Charlie Phillips made five saves in the draw.
Tickets/Admission for CACC Tournament:
Adults: $10.00
Children and Senior Citizens: $5.00
Children under the age of three: Free
Links to Follow the CACC Tournament:
Live stats vs. Caldwell: https://caldwellathletics.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary
Video vs. Caldwell: https://www.caccnetwork.com/caldwell/?B=1100853
CACC Tournament Central: https://caccathletics.org/tournaments/?id=4
Scouting the No. 5 Wilmington University Wildcats:
The Wildcats got off to a slow start this season, going 2-7-2 through their game at Georgian Court on October 8. A victory over Jefferson on October 16 sparked a four-game winning streak and the Wildcats have gone 5-2 to close out the regular season, including a 4-0 shutout over No. 6 Southern New Hampshire.
The Wildcats boast a potent offensive attack, having a the 7th ranked scoring offense in NCAA DII, averaging 2.78 goals per game. They take the 2nd most shots per game in the country, averaging 19.28 shots per game and 3rd in the country in shots on goal per game, averaging 9.0 shots on goal. Their 50 goals on the season are 4th in the country and their 38 assists are 13th most in the country.
The attack is led by Theo Faillon who is tied for 2nd in all of NCAA DII with 22 goals on the year. He has 22 goals and four assists on the year for 48 points, the 4th most in the country. The Wildcats also have two other student-athletes in double digit points, as freshman forward Michiharu Takanashi has nine goals and three assists for 21 points and redshirt freshman forward Jhamaleek Porter has six goals and two assists for 14 points. Left back Tsubasa Abe, midfielder Alex Tarway, and midfielder Lenny Greifenberg led the team with five assists each.
Charlie Phillips has played every minute in goal for the Wildcats this season, collecting two shutouts (#6 Southern New Hampshire and Dominican).
Scouting the No. 4 Caldwell University Cougars:
The Cougars finished the regular season at 7-3-1 in conference play, good for 22 points in the 12-team table. That record included victories over each of the teams seeded ahead of them (2-1 vs. #1 Post on 10/16; 1-0 vs. #2 Georgian Court on 10/19; and 1-0 at Felician on 9/24).
The Cougars (8-5-3 overall) are paced offensively by junior midfielder Ingebrigt Braenden (Trondheim, Norway) with three goals and eight assists for 14 points, sophomore forward Theodore Hertzenberg (Lommedalen, Norway) (6-0-12) and sophomore defender Yigit Kilic (Istanbul, Turkiye) (4-2-10). Sophomore goalkeeper Justin Talbot (Moorestown, N.J.) has been one of the region's top netminders all season, posting a 0.90 GAA and league-best .838 save percentage and four shutouts.
Wilmington in the CACC Tournament:
2004 (0-1): #5 Caldwell def. #4 Wilmington, 3-1
2005 (0-1): #3 Felician def. #6 Wilmington, 2-1 (OT)
2006 (0-1): #3 Post def. #2 Wilmington, 1-0
2007(1-0-1): #2 Wilmington def. #3 Caldwell, 1-0 (OT); #2 Wilmington tied #4 Holy Family 1-1, Wilmington wins CACC Championship, 5-3, in PK Shootout).
2008 (0-1): #4 Post def. #5 Wilmington, 1-0
2009 (1-0-1): #1 Wilmington def. #8 Goldey-Beacom, 2-0; #1 Wilmington tied #5 Bloomfield, 0-(Bloomfield advances, 4-2, in PK shootout)
2010 (0-1): #5 Post def. #4 Wilmington, 2-1 (OT)
2011 (0-1): #7 Nyack def. #2 Wilmington, 4-0
2012 (1-1): #5 Wilmington def. #4 Bloomfield, 3-2; #1 Post def. #5 Wilmington, 1-0
2013 (1-0-1): #4 Wilmington def. #5 Concordia, 3-0; #4 Wilmington tied #1 Post, 1-1 (Post advances, 4-2, in PK shootout)
2014 (2-1): #6 Wilmington def. #3 Concordia, 2-0; #6 Wilmington def. #2 Dominican, 2-1 (2OT); #1 Philadelphia def. #6 Wilmington, 1-0
2015: (1-1): #1 Wilmington Def. #8 Goldey-Beacom. 4-0; #4 Chestnut Hill Def. #1 Wilmington 2-1 (OT)
2016 (1-1): #3 Wilmington def. #6 Goldey-Beacom, 3-0; #2 Georgian Court def. #3 Wilmington, 3-2
2017 (0-1): #6 Post def. #3 Wilmington, 1-0
2018 (2-1): #1 Wilmington def. #8 Chestnut Hill, 3-0; #1 Wilmington def. #4 Jefferson, 2-1; #2 Post def. #1 Wilmington, 2-0
2019 (1-1): #1 Wilmington def. #8 Concordia, 7-4; #5 Georgian Court def. #1 Wilmington, 4-2
2021 (1-1): #2 Wilmington def. #7 Felician, 6-0; #3 Dominican def. #2 Wilmington, 2-0
2022 (1-1): #4 Wilmington def. #5 Jefferson, 2-1; #1 Post def #4 Wilmington, 3-2
2023 (0-1): #5 Jefferson def. #4 Wilmington, 2-1
Overall: 13-16-3
Season and All-Time Records vs. CACC Tournament Participants:
#1 Post University Eagles (10-4-3, 8-1-2 CACC): 2024: vs. L 4-0; All-Time: 9-14-6; CACC Tournament: 0-7-1
#2 Georgian Court University Lions (10-7-1, 8-3-0 CACC): 2024: at L 3-2; All-Time: 7-5-1; CACC Tournament: 0-2
#3 Felician University Golden Falcons (13-3-2, 7-2-2 CACC): 2024: vs. L 3-2; All-Time: 16-5-1; CACC Tournament: 1-1
#4 Caldwell University Cougars (8-5-2, 7-3-1 CACC): 2024: vs. T 1-1; All-Time: 11-6-5; CACC Tournament: 1-1
#5 Wilmington University Wildcats (7-9-2, 6-4-1 CACC)
#6 University of Bridgeport Purple Knights (7-7-3, 6-4-1 CACC): 2024: at W 6-1; All-Time: 9-1-3; CACC Tournament: 0-0
#7 Goldey-Beacom College Lightning (7-11-0, 6-5-0 CACC): 2024: vs. L 6-4; All-Time: 21-1-1; CACC Tournament: 3-0
#8 Thomas Jefferson University Rams (9-6-3, 4-5-2 CACC): 2024 vs W 3-2; All-Time: 10-8-2; CACC Tournament: 2-2
2024 CACC Men's Soccer Tournament Game Schedule:
Quarterfinals (Sunday, Nov. 10, at Sites of Highest Seeds)
#8 Jefferson at #1 Post (1 p.m.)
#5 Wilmington at #4 Caldwell (1 p.m.)
#7 Goldey-Beacom at #2 Georgian Court (1 p.m.)
#6 Bridgeport at #3 Felician (1 p.m.)
Semifinals (Wednesday, Nov. 13, at Sites of Highest Seeds)
Post/Jeff Winner vs. Caldwell/WilmU Winner (1 p.m.)
GCU/G-B Winner vs. FelU/UB Winner (1 p.m.)
Championship Final (Sunday, Nov. 17, at Wilmington University)
Semifinal Winner vs. Semifinal Winner (10 a.m.)