WALTHAM, Mass. - - Alyssa Ruggeri broke a 1-1 tie with her second goal of the game in the 53^rd minute, as the Wilmington University women's soccer team defeated No. 4 Adelphi, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon at Bentley for its first win of the 2024 season.

The evenly matched game featured a 12-12 tie in shots, including a 5-5 tie in shots on goal. Adelphi (1-1) earned one more corner than the Wildcats, 4-3, but Arianna Myers came up with one more stop than the Panthers' goalkeeper, 4-3.

Alyssa Ruggeri opened the scoring in the 25^th minute with her third shot of the game, finishing off a feed from Cadence Serrano. Adelphi was able to tie the game in the 35^th minute though, sneaking one past Myers as the game went into the halftime break, 1-1.

Early in the second half, the Wildcats were on the attack as Sharon Freire Omonigho and Jordan Siok got shots off. Siok's was saved and pushed over the endline for a corner, setting up Alyssa Ruggeri's second goal. Ellie Lawrence gathered the assist as Ruggeri found the back of the net 52:07 into the match.

Adelphi was able to get five shots off after the 2-1 deficit, but Arianna Myers was only called upon to make one more save to preserve the victory.

The Wildcats return to New England for two more games next weekend. They play at Southern New Hampshire on Friday, September 13 at 7:00 p.m. and head across town and play at Saint Anselm on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.