Wilkes Women's Soccer Upends DeSales 2-1 in MAC Freedom Semifinals
EDWARDSVILLE – The No. 2 seeded-Wilkes University women's soccer team went up early and fought off a comeback by No. 3 seed DeSales University earning a 2-1 win in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) semifinals at Schmidt Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The Colonels improved to 9-6-2 with the win.
DeSales held possession through the first five minutes but it was Wilkes who got the first major scoring opportunity when
Emily Wirth (Vestal, NY/Vestal) took a shot from 20-yards out that hit the post and dribbled out-of-bounds in the eighth minute.
The Colonels broke through in the 11
th minute when
Haley Evans (Deptford, NJ/GCIT) dribbled the ball up the left sideline before crossing to
Emily Bidelspach (Myerstown, PA/ELCO) who one-touched to
Nicolette Towlen (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) for a shot into a wide-open net and a 1-0 lead.
Wilkes found itself on the doorstep again in the 17
th minute when Towlen was fed up the right side and passed it into the middle but a one-timer by Bidelspach went high.
The Colonels doubled their lead in the 22
nd minute on a corner kick off the foot of
Jessica Egan (West Long Branch, NJ/Shore Regional) that found the head of
Delfina Bracchi (Central Islip, NY/Central Islip) into the lower right corner of the net.
DeSales cut the advantage in half in the 40
th minute on a header from a corner kick but Wilkes held steady at 2-1 as the first 45 came to an end.
Bidelspach appeared primed to give Wilkes a two-goal lead late in the second half when she was sprung for a breakaway, but Bulldogs keeper Haley Jacobs came out and stifled the opportunity.
The play remained physical throughout but neither team was able to get another solid scoring opportunity as time expired sending the Colonels into the finals for the second consecutive season.
Wilkes held the advantage in shots 16-12, with seven hitting the target compared to just three for DeSales.
Samantha Cecere (Batavia, NY/Batavia) made two saves in the cage for the Colonels.
Wilkes advances to the MAC Freedom finals where it will face No. 1 Misericordia following the Cougars 2-1 win over No. 4 FDU-Florham at a time to-be-determined.
