With their backs against the proverbial wall, the Wilmington College men's soccer team got a much-needed victory, beating Otterbein 3-0 Wednesday at Williams Stadium in Ohio Athletic Conference action.
The Fightin' Quakers scored on a penalty kick and two free kicks in snapping their eight-game winless streak. Wilmington went 0-5-3 in that stretch.
"It's been a long drought," said Wilmington head coach Bud Lewis. "I never expected anything like that with this team, as strong as they can play. Tonight they showed they could do it. We prepared well for what we knew we would see, made a few changes in how we play, and it paid dividends right away."
Senior Daniel Wicks (Cincinnati, OH/Reading), who has moved back to his familiar midfield position, created Wilmington's first scoring chance. He beat his defender on the right edge of the box, and drew the foul. Wicks deposited the penalty kick just 4:37 into the game.
"Getting an early goal set the tone for the game, and we weren't done then," said Lewis. "This is a game we created the chances for five or six goals, and we haven't done that often, especially against a good team. I am really pleased with our outing."
Otterbein committed 10 fouls in the first half, and they paid dearly in the first half. In all, there were 29 fouls and five yellow cards in the game.
After Wicks tallied the goal on the penalty, Wilmington had two free kicks in dangerous territory.
Senior Evan Schlagetter (Sidney, OH/Sidney) drilled one from 12 yards out in the 10th minutes, and senior Martin Holmquist (Karlstad, Sweden/Alvkulle Gymnasiet) scored from 25 yards out in the 14th minute.
"Martin and Evan took over on two set piece goals," said Lewis. "Martin's was particularly special. He took advantage of a team trying to set their wall up, they weren't ready, and he just hit it."
Freshman R.J. Mancini (Cincinnati, OH/Glen Este) made four saves in recording his first career shutout.
Wilmington (6-7-3 overall, 1-3-2 OAC) stays home 7 p.m. Saturday, hosting Mount Union in the team's home finale.