*Story by Austin Wampler
WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College men's soccer team continues to put its unbeaten record on the line Wednesday at Muskingum University. Kickoff from New Concord is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Teams: Wilmington and Muskingum. Wilmington is 7-0-2 while coming off a 1-1 draw against Heidelberg University in 110 minutes of play in its Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) season opener. Muskingum is 3-7-0 after being handed a 3-0 defeat in its OAC season opener at John Carroll University on Saturday.
The Coaches: Alex Van der Sluijs is in his fourth year leading Wilmington's men's soccer team. The 2007 alumnus, who was a three-time First Team All-OAC selection and a member of the program's only team to win an OAC title in 2004, got the program within a shootout victory of playing for an OAC Tournament title in the spring of 2021. He worked at Defiance College for seven seasons. Adam Ponder is in his second season as head coach for the Fighting Muskies. Ponder has spent his previous five years assisting for Valparaiso University, the University of Mount Union, and Wright State University.
The Players: The Quakers boast a lethal offensive attack that leads the OAC as a team with 30 goals on the season with Elorm Dogbey and Yusef Muqtadir leading the way with six goals each. Jeffry Vasquez has 10 points on the season for the Quakers and Brady Shapiro entered the scoring column after scoring the lone Quaker goal, his first of the year against Heidelberg. Felix Maurer serves as the goalkeeper, allowing only five goals in nine games. Edwin Palou leads the Fighting Muskies with five points, while teammates Morgan McKenna and Blake Weatherholt tie Palou with two goals.
Regional Rankings: Wilmington sits third in the United Soccer Coaches' most recent regional rankings. Additionally, the Quakers are receiving votes to be ranked in the national Top 25 Poll.
Series History: Wilmington is currently riding a four-game win streak and is 26-3-1 over Muskingum the series since 1991 while winning comfortably 5-0 at Williams Stadium a season ago. More information on the series history can be viewed by visiting the link above.
Coverage: Live statistics and live video of the contest will be available – visit the links above.
Social Media: Follow Wilmington athletics on social media! The Fightin' Quakers have a presence on Facebook (Wilmington College Athletics) as well as Twitter and Instagram (@DubCQuakers).
Up Next: Wilmington hosts regional-ranked Mount Union in a showdown at Williams Stadium Saturday night at 7 p.m.
