Wilkes Men's Soccer Comes Up Short in Five-Goal Thriller Against Marywood
EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – The Wilkes men's soccer team kicked off their 2025 campaign at Bruggeworth Field on Friday night, narrowly falling to Marywood University 3-2.
The Colonels fall to 0-1 to start the year while Pacers kick off the year at 1-0.
Marywood opened the scoring in just under four minutes, as Jack Forbes intercepted the Colonel pass and finished the chance to give the visitors a quick 1-0 lead. Only a few minutes later,
Elijah Emedoh-Kaba (Gilbertsville, PA/Boyertown Area) equalized after finding the end of a long pass from Diego Lewis Almieda over the top of the Pacer defense, burying the chance at the near post.
After providing the assist on the first goal, Almieda rifled a shot from long-distance catching the Marywood goalkeeper off-guard in the 18
th minute for his first career collegiate goal that gave the Colonels a 2-1 lead. The lead would be short-lived, however, as Marywood equalized once more with a goal two minutes later from Owen Clearwaters.
The score remained tied at half time, with the Colonels leading in shots 8-4.
The second half did not see nearly as many goals, with each team unable to find the mark early. Wilkes conceded a penalty kick in the 74
th minute that was initially saved by
Matthew Conti (Florence, NJ/Florence Township Memorial High School), but the Pacers fired home the rebound to take a 3-2 lead off the boot of Forbes.
The Colonels had two strong chances in the final ten minutes but were unable to find the back of the net, as the game finished 3-2 in favor of the visitors.
Kaba led the Colonels with one goal and two shots on target, while Almieda shined in his collegiate debut registering a goal and an assist. In goal, Conti made seven saves. Wilkes out-shot Marywood 15-13 and won the corner kick battle 6-4.
Forbes led Marywood with two goals and four shots on goal. Ryan Schweigart made four saves in net for the Pacers.
The Colonels return to action on Monday, September 1
st as they travel to face Lancaster Bible College. Kickoff against the Chargers is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
