The Wilmington College men’s soccer team rebounded from Thursday’s loss to shutout Covenant Saturday in non-conference play, 2-0, on Townsend Field at Williams Stadium.
“It’s nice to get a win, especially after Thursday’s game,” said Wilmington acting head coach Sean Bray. “We felt it wasn’t a true reflection of how we could play as a team. I thought we were organized defensively today and we did a better job of winning balls out of the air.”
Wilmington played without head coach Bud Lewis, who was tending to a personal family matter.
The Fightin’ Quakers got on the board early as junior Grady Garrison scored in the game’s 18th minute as freshman Carl Bergstrom played the ball from the back line to the middle of the box. Garrison calmly deposited the pass to the back of the net and Wilmington held its first lead of the season.
“That is good for Grady,” said Bray. “It kind of got him on track. That is kind of Grady’s game; to outwork people and outhustle them. The more he does that, the better for him and us.”
Wilmington continued to apply pressure on the Scots in the second half. But the key to the game was the Fightin’ Quakers ability to defend set pieces and corner kicks.
“That has been one of our focal points, not giving up goals on set pieces,” said Bray. “We changed how we defended corners and attacked them. I thought we should have scored a couple more goals, but we are going to keep working on that. In college soccer, you can win a game or two on set pieces.”
Sophomore Niklas Martennson gave WC some much needed breathing room with a goal in the 78th minute off a beautiful lob from sophomore Daniel Kappelin.
Senior Nick Baker recorded two saves for his first collegiate shutout.
Wilmington (1-1) hosts Mount St. Joseph 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the second game of the 2016 Kiwanis Classic.
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