WILDCATS ADVANCE TO CACC WITH THRILLING SHOOTOUT WIN OVER DOMINICAN
Courtesy of Erin Harvey, Wilmington University SID
NEW CASTLE, DE -- The Wildcats of Wilmington University and the Dominican College Chargers needed just a little more than 110:00 minutes of action to determine a winner in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference opening round of the women's soccer playoffs on Tuesday afternoon at the Kirkwood Complex.
Two 45:00 minute regulation periods and two 10:00 double overtime sessions still was not enough time to determine a winner, as the two teams ended the second overtime tied at two, and went in to a penalty kick shootout to determine the outcome. Wilmington won 4-2 in penalty kicks, and sent the Wildcats on to the semi-final round of the CACC playoffs.
Both fourth seeded Wilmington, and fifth seeded Dominican had early scoring opportunities, but the strong play of both goalkeepers, kept each team off the board. After a scoreless first half, the action sure picked up in the second half, with each team netting two goals.
The Chargers opened the second half with a goal just over a minute in, as Angela Correia (Elizabeth, NJ) tallied an unassisted goal, when she knocked home a left-footed volley past the outstretched hands of sophomore keeper Amanda Jenkins. Wilmington tied the game at one, when senior forward Begum Malali scored off an assist from sophomore midfielder Nicole Meis. Malali took the pass at the top of the box, turned around, and ripped a shot low with her left foot that just snuck by the Charger keeper.
Dominican answered back during the 85th minute as Marie Lamaida (New Hyde Park, NY) took advantage of a turnover by the Wildcat defense, and chipped a shot over the Wilmington keeper. With time running out, and the hopes of the Wildcats growing dim, the offense put together one final run. Malali got the ball about 30 yards out, and proceeded toward goal, where she was tripped up by a Charger defender. With just two seconds left, freshman defender Danielle Niccoli booted a ball from about 22 yards out, just under the crossbar, and saved the day for the home team.
During the shootout, Wilmington's Jenkins was the first to face a shot, and dove to her right to stop Jennifer Ditzig's (Brick, NJ) attempt. Freshman defender Chelsea Genco then netted the ensuing opportunity to give the ‘Cats at 1-0 lead. On the next Charger attempt, Nicole Tatulli (Brick, NJ) scored, and Malali answered with a goal of her own to keep the Wildcats ahead 2-1. The next Charger to attempt a penalty kick was Katrina VanAlstyne (Cairo, NY), and she easily found the back of the net. Wilmington's goalkeeper Jenkins took the next shot, and buried it in the twine. On the ensuing attempt, Jenkins once again dove and stopped the shot from Dominican's Erin Martin (Stony Point, NY). Freshman forward Ashli Gerlach then promptly finished off the Chargers, as she connected on a shot that went into the upper right corner to give the Wildcats the thrilling 4-2 shootout victory.
Wilmington's Jenkins recorded six saves in the victory, while Veronica Johnson (Mahopac, NY) had an outstanding game for Dominican with 15 saves. The Wildcats out-shot the Chargers by a 29-13 margin, and the corner kicks were tied at two apiece.
With the win, Wilmington improved to 14-5-2 on the season, while
Dominican was eliminated from the playoffs and dropped to 8-9-2
overall. The Wildcats advance to the semi-finals, where they
will meet top-seeded Holy Family University on Thursday afternoon
at Tryon Field in Rutherford, New Jersey at 4:30 PM.