WILMINGTON, Ohio - Niklas Martensson tallied a hat trick in the first half and the Wilmington College men's soccer team's defense held Earlham College to one shot in a 4-0 shutout victory in the Quaker Bowl Rivalry on Wednesday evening.
Martensson, who scored a hat trick earlier this season in a 7-0 victory over the University of Cincinnati Clermont College on Sept. 4, netted three goals in less than six minutes in the first half to vault Wilmington ahead of Earlham 3-0. The senior opened the scoring at the 25:45 mark, notched his second goal at the 27:39 point of the first half and completed the hat trick in the 32nd minute.
The Fightin' Quakers outshot the Hustlin' Quakers 12-1 in the first half. That one shot from Earlham, coming in the 18th minute from Padgett Gustavson, proved to be the visitor's only offense of the evening.
Benny Spirk converted a penalty kick less than a minute into the second half as Wilmington costed to the 4-0 victory and holding a 6-0 advantage in shots over the final 45 minutes.
"We came ready to play and brought intensity from the first minute," Head Men's Soccer Coach Alex Van der Sluijs said. "Defensively, we did a great job of giving them very little time on the ball and it showed with the shutout.
Felix Maurer improved to 4-3-0 with the victory in goal while Nicola Mani took the loss for Earlham. Ethan Butcher came in to finish the last 9:24 in goal for Wilmington.
With the win, Wilmington improves to 4-3-0. The Quakers have the weekend off before trying to win their third straight game with a contest at Franklin College on Tuesday, Sept. 25.
