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Men's Soccer Opens OAC Play With 1-1 Draw at Heidelberg

Photo by Heidelberg Athletic Communications
Photo by Heidelberg Athletic Communications

TIFFIN, Ohio – The Wilmington College men's soccer team kept its unbeaten record intact with a 1-1 draw at Heidelberg University in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon.

The Fightin' Quakers fired seven first-half shots compared to six for Heidelberg. None of the 13 shots, however, could break the scoreless deadlock. The second half was much of the same as both teams took exactly six shots. The visitors nearly opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, but a Ryan Forino penalty kick was saved by Sigurd Ilestad. Brady Shapiro, an Honorable Mention All-OAC selection as a defender last year, opened the scoring two minutes later, however. The sophomore took a pass from Grant Murray and buried his first goal of the season.

The Quakers couldn't hold the lead, however, as the Student Princes equalized in the 76th minute. Hussein Faraj found Rafael Bellucci Marin, who beat Felix Maurer to tie the game.

Wilmington, looking to avenge a 2-0 defeat the last time the team's played in Tiffin (Sept. 29, 2018), pushed down on the offensive gas petal in the overtime periods, holding a 4-1 shots advantage and 3-0 in corner kicks. Unfortunately, the extra 20 minutes didn't yield a goal.

Both goalkeepers, Maurer and Ilestad, had identical stat lines with one surrendered goal on five shots and four saves. Wilmington, which tallied 17 total shots was led by Elorm Dogbey with four while Forino and Yusef Muqtadir both fired three shots. For Heidelberg, Rafael Belluccimarin and Faraj combined for 10 the team's 13 shots.

Wilmington (7-0-2, 0-0-1 OAC) heads to Muskingum University for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday.