Press Release Written by Nathan Foltz
Video highlights at bottom of page
ORANGEBURG, N.Y. - - The 16th ranked Wilmington University women's soccer team overpowered Dominican University on Saturday at O'Brien Field, defeating the Chargers, 5-0, for its first Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory of the season.
The Wildcats had five different goal scorers contribute as the team moved to 4-0-2 and 1-0-1 in CACC play. Dominican is now 1-3-2 overall and 0-2-0 against conference opponents.
Eboni Bradshaw got the scoring started for Wilmington in the 10th minute. Evelyn Payne took a ball up the right side of the box before perfectly placing a cross at the feet of an undefended Bradshaw, who easily put it into the top left corner of the net to register her fourth goal on the year. Cayley Winters was the next to get on the board in the 21st minute, charging in to steal a pass from the Charger keeper and beating her to the bottom right of the net for her first goal of the season. To cap off the scoring in the first half in minute 33, Laila Williams took a feed from Alda Gomes up the middle of the box, though her initial shot was blocked by the keeper. The ball bounced right back to Williams, though, and she pushed it ahead for her first collegiate goal.
Wilmington didn't slow down in the second half, taking advantage of a free kick to the right of the box in the 66th minute. Cayley Winters took the kick and perfectly placed it near the far post, where it was headed in by Maria Leguizamon. Finally, in the 87th minute, Evelyn Payne capped off the day with her second goal of the year. She took a pass from Sierra Bartley just past midfield and brought it all the way up through the right side of the box before beating her defender and shooting it past the goalie to the left corner for the score.
The Wildcats outshot the Chargers, 21-11, with 10 SOG compared to Dominican's six. Isabella Mazzone and Arianna Myers combined for the shutout, as Mazzone made 5 saves in second half while Myers made one stop. The teams tied in corners, 2-2.
Next up for Wilmington is a non-conference contest at Mercy University on Wednesday, scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. kickoff. The Wildcats will be home again next Saturday the 27th, facing off against Bridgeport at 1:00 p.m. on Homecoming Saturday.