*Story by Alex Trevino
WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College men's soccer team hosts Mount Union on Saturday in a match that will play a huge role in determining seeding and home field advantage in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) tournament.
The Teams: Wilmington and Mount Union. Wilmington fell 2-1 at conference leading Ohio Northern on Wednesday evening and will need a positive result against Mount Union to keep hopes for hosting an OAC tournament game alive. Mount Union is riding a four game winning streak thanks to a red-hot offense which has scored 13 goals during this win streak.
The Coaches: Wilmington is led by first-year Head Coach Cory Bucur, who came to WC from Defiance College. Bucur led the Yellow Jackets to their best season in over a decade in the fall of 2021 as DC went 11-11-1, upset Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament before coming a penalty shootout victory away from appearing in the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament. David Krems is in his third season as head men's soccer coach at Mount Union. Krems has spent the last two seasons as an assistant men's soccer coach at Penn State-Behrend in Erie, Pennsylvania. In those seasons, he helped lead the Lions to a 35-6-2 record with a pair of Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference titles, and two NCAA Tournament appearances including a run to the round of 16 in 2018.
The Players: Freshman Gio Alvarez and Senior Casey Miller have been powerhouses out of the mid-field in conference play netting two goals apiece. Grant Murray has scored one goal and two assists in conference play. Jamon McCort leads the Purple Raider offense with five conference goals.
OAC Player of the Week: Michael Owusu was selected as this weeks Midstream Lighting OAC Defensive Player of the Week.
Senior Night: This game marks the final regular season home game for seven seniors - Yusef Muqtadir, Elorm Dogbey, Michael Owusu, Casey Miller, Grant Murray, Jeffry Vasquez and Phillip Wynn. A brief ceremony will be held prior to the game.
Regional Rankings: Wilmington checks in at No. 8 in this week's United Soccer Coaches Region VII regional rankings.
Series History: Wilmington is 4-5-1 in the previous 10 matches against Mount Union. More information on the series history can be viewed by visiting the link 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 will travel to Muskingum on Wednesday with first touch slated for 7:00 p.m.
