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Men's soccer, with backs against wall, comes through

~ Martin Holmquist ~ (Wilmington photo/Randy Sarvis)
~ Martin Holmquist ~ (Wilmington photo/Randy Sarvis)

With their backs against the wall, the Wilmington College men's soccer team – behind a couple lineup changes – looked re-energized in posting a 2-0 victory over Capital Tuesday in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Charlie Gilhart Field.

"You go to 1-3 in the conference, and it's hard to come back," said head coach Bud Lewis. "It was a very important game to get a good result. This is a game we gained a lot of confidence."

Lewis moved junior Martin Holmquist (Karlstad, Sweden / Alvkulle Gymnasiet) to the midfield and junior Drew Fields (Terrace Park, OH/Mariemont) to the back with spectacular results. Holmquist controlled the midfield and improved Wilmington's playmaking abilities.

Meanwhile, Fields solidified the back four. Lewis credited the play of the WC defense – junior Brandon Klepach (Centerville, OH/Centerville), freshman Aaron Basford (Monroe, OH/Monroe), senior Jeff Graham (Kettering, OH/Archbishop Carroll) and Fields – in playing a pivotal part in the win.

Wilmington improved to 5-9-1 overall, 2-2 in the OAC, while Capital fell to 5-5-3 overall, 2-2 in the OAC.

Junior Evan Schlagetter (Sidney, OH/Sidney) got the Fightin' Quakers on the board in the 12th minute on a ball that caught the goalkeeper with a moment of indecision and he was able to loft it over him. It was a pass from sophomore Nick Toney (Morrow, OH/Little Miami) that had the keeper in between protecting the goal and coming out for the ball.

"That is not an easy ball to hit," said Lewis. "He put perfect loft on the ball to get over the goalkeeper."

Freshman Markus Tornberg (Stockholm, Sweden / Hersby Gymnasium), who Lewis described as 'the man of the match' gave Wilmington much needed breathing room. He snuck a header inside the far post off a feed from junior Daniel Wicks (Reading, OH/Reading) in the game's 79th minute.

Senior Anton Niklasson (Ockero, Sweden / Frolunda Gymnasiet) earned the victory, playing the entire 90 minutes with one save.

The Fightin' Quakers travel to Baldwin Wallace 7 p.m. Saturday for OAC action.