The Wilmington College men's soccer team found themselves in a first half hole from which they couldn't escape Saturday (Oct. 19) as Baldwin-Wallace College won a decisive 3-0 victory at George Finnie Stadium in Berea.

The Yellow Jackets struck early as Andrew Preis netted B-W's first goal only 13 minutes into the match on an assist from Mike Womack. A dozen minutes later, they went up 2-0 on Ashkon Bahrami's goal assisted by Zach Smith.

Baldwin-Wallace took that two-goal lead into halftime as the Fightin' Quakers tried to regroup and generate some effective offense.

WC's head coach Bud Lewis said the team displayed "good momentum and energy" in the early going — creating potential scoring opportunities — but, "We just couldn't get anything on the board."

Coming off a big win Tuesday, 2-0 against Capital, Wilmington expected to take the intensity they displayed and the momentum of a quality performance with them on the road at B-W, but inconsistency this season has been the rule rather than the exception.

"Credit Baldwin-Wallace for making good on the chances they had," he said. "They're too good of a team for us to make the to make the mistakes we made."

Unfortunately, the second stanza started much like the first as B-W scored early in the period when, stealing the ball on a Wilmington miscue, Cody Smith sent the ball into the net unassisted at the 8:42 mark in the half.

Although the scoreboard told a different story, statistics for the match were fairly even with Wilmington holding a slight 15 to 14 advantage in shots while B-W had five corner kicks to WC's four.

The Fightin' Quakers' goalkeeper, Anton Niklasson, saved five of eight shots on goal, while the Yellow Jackets' Tyler Beaton had three saves. WC was called for a dozen fouls and B-W 10.

The win boosts Baldwin-Wallace's record to 6-7-3 for the season, 4-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while Wilmington drops to 5-10-1, 2-3 in the OAC.

With four matches remaining in the regular season, the Fightin' Quakers go into next week with a crucial home stand, hosting Otterbein University Wednesday, at 7 p.m., and Marietta College Saturday evening, before finishing on the road at Ohio Northern and John Carroll universities.

"We'll put this game behind us," Lewis said. "The team knows how important the Otterbein match is — I have no doubt we will respond."