Bracchi's Free Kick Goal Propels Wilkes Women's Soccer over King's 1-0
EDWARDSVILLE – Sophomore
Delfina Bracchi (Central Islip, NY/Central Islip) scored on a second half free kick to give the Wilkes University women's soccer team a 1-0 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom home win over crosstown rival King's College on Tuesday afternoon at Schmidt Stadium.
Wilkes, the No. 8 ranked team in Tuesday's United Soccer Coaches Mid-Atlantic Poll, moved to 9-1-2 overall and stayed undefeated in conference action at 3-0-0. King's fell to 5-4-2 overall and to 1-2-0 in conference games.
The Lady Colonels found the net in the 58
th minute when Bracchi stuck a free kick from 25-yards out that beat the wall and the goalkeeper to the near post. It was the second goal of the season for Bracchi.
Junior goalkeeper
Courtney Stanley (Yardville, NJ/Steinert) made two saves including one with just over three minutes remaining to nail down the seventh shutout in the past nine games for the Lady Colonels. It was Stanley's sixth shutout of the season, tying her for third for shutouts in a single season in school history.
Freshmen
Niamh Harkins (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) and
Catherine Gregoire (New Cumberland, PA/Trinity) anchored the backline for the full 90 minutes making several plays to help preserve the shutout.
Wilkes nearly grabbed the lead 10 minutes into the game after senior
Ema Sabovic (Brodheadsville, PA/Pleasant Valley) played a through ball intended for senior
Dianna Connor (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley) that the King's goalkeeper was able to get to and knock away. The ball went right to junior
Nicolette Towlen (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) outside the top of the box on the right side of the field but her shot went wide to the right.
For the game Wilkes held the 16-6 shots and 5-2 shots on goal advantage as well as the 5-4 edge in corner kicks.
The Lady Colonels will continue MAC Freedom play on Saturday, October 14 when they travel to Center Valley, Pa. to take on DeSales University at 1:00 p.m.
