WILMINGTON, Ohio – Niklas Martensson's two first-half goals gave the Wilmington College men's soccer team a 3-0 victory over Franklin College in the non-conference finale for the Fightin' Quakers on Tuesday evening.
Wilmington fired eight shots in the first 25 minutes and earned a penalty kick on the eighth shot when a header from Ian Molfenter was intentionally blocked with an arm. After a Grizzly was sent off via red card, Martensson buried the penalty kick giving Wilmington a 1-0 lead.
The Quakers, who played up a man the remainder of the game, doubled their lead six minutes later when Benny Spirk found Martensson at the 31:39 mark. Neither team took a shot for the final 13:21 of the half.
Twenty minutes into the second half, Wilmington struck against as Daniel Kappelin broke free down the near sideline of Williams Stadium and sent a low cross to the far post. JC Brewer ran onto the pass and finished the ball into the open net.
Wilmington outshot Franklin 21-6 in the contest including holding a 10-4 edge in shots on goal and a 5-1 margin in corner kicks.
Martensson finished with four shots for Wilmington while Nati Wallis, Leon Tank and Molfenter all took three shots. Luke Oliver fired half of the Grizzlies' shots.
Felix Maurer improved to 5-3-0 on the season with the shutout victory. Jake Hendricks took the loss allowing two goals on four shots.
Wilmington concludes non-conference play with a 5-3-0 record. The Quakers take a three-game winning streak to the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener at Heidelberg University on Saturday.
