The Wilmington College men's soccer team unleashed 30 shots in scoring a season-high five goals Friday, beating Earlham 5-2 at Williams Stadium in the second game of the 2014 Kiwanis Classic.
In the opener Wittenberg defeated Defiance, 2-0. Wilmington holds a plus-one advantage in goal differential heading into the second day. Wittenberg plays Earlham at 5 p.m., followed by the Fightin' Quakers hosting Defiance.
"It was an important win for us," said Wilmington head coach Bud Lewis. "Earlham's a team that has been struggling to score. They came into the game allowing eight goals, and five of those came in the last match – so I knew they were a solid defensive team."
In scoring five times, it marks the most goals scored since WC tallied five in a 5-2 victory over Waynesburg on September 28, 2011.
Wilmington (4-2) showed its scoring diversity as five different players found the back of the net. Senior Daniel Wicks (Cincinnati, OH/Reading), senior Alex Ruckman (Monroe, OH/Monroe) and junior Ethan Zimpfer (Botkins, OH/Botkins) all scored a goal with an assist.
"We were around the goal a lot," said Bud Lewis. "I was real pleased with our aggressive mentality. Every time we had a set piece, we were dangerous. From that standpoint, you could see there was a lot of potential in this group. More importantly, we showed we can be an offensive powerhouse and we can get a number of different people scoring goals; which we did today. Now we can get focused on our job tomorrow."
It was Wicks' first game in the field as he was in goal for the team's first five games of the season. Freshman R.J. Mancini (Cincinnati, OH/Glen Este) picked up the win in his first collegiate start, allowing one goal with one save.
WC took the lead in the 12th minute as freshman Nils Asteberg (Ojersjo, Sweden/Porthalla Gymnasium) scored his first career marker off an assist from Wicks. Seven minutes later, Ruckman narrowly beat the goalkeeper to a crossing pass from Zimpfer to give the Fightin' Quakers a 2-0 lead, which they took into the half.
Earlham showed signs of life with a goal in the 59th minute, but Wilmington quickly answered three minutes later as Zimpfer scored off a double assist from junior Nick Toney (Morrow, OH/Little Miami) and Ruckman.
Senior Martin Holmquist (Karlstad, Sweden / Alvkulle Gymnasiet) caught EC sleeping a bit on a free kick just outside the goal box, shooting before the Quakers were set. After Earlham pulled to within two again, Wicks scored what could be an important goal. The goal gives Wilmington the aforementioned one goal lead over Wittenberg.
