EDWARDSVILLE – Visiting Misericordia University took a 2-0 lead at the break and put the match out of reach with another tally late in the second half on way to a 3-1 non-conference victory over the Wilkes University men's soccer team Tuesday night at Bruggeworth Field.
 
Wilkes fell to1-6-3 overall following the home defeat while Misericordia improved to 4-4-2 overall on the season.
 
Misericordia took an early 1-0 lead at the 21:55 mark of the first half when Reese Dieffenderfer scored inside the right post. The Cougars added to the lead 12 minutes later as a shot from Kohen Stiles found the back of the net to push the advantage to 2-0 at the break.
 
The match stayed at 2-0 before a header from Elijah Emedoh-Kaba (Gilbertsville, PA/Boyertown Area) at 73:20 cut the deficit in half for the Colonels. The pressure remained high in the Cougars end, but Wilkes was unable to find the equalizer despite several strong chances.
 
Misericordia put the match out of reach ten minutes later when Shane Macko placed a ball into the goal off an assist from Noah Romig at 83:26 to push the lead back to two at 3-1.
 
Wilkes outshot Misericordia 13-10 throughout the match while both teams garnered five corner kicks each. Matthew Conti (Florence, NJ/Florence Township Memorial High School) started and played the first 45 minutes in goal for Wilkes while Landon Keller (Provo, UT/Timpview) played the second half making one save.
 
Wilkes returns to Landmark Conference play on Saturday when the Colonels travel to Juniata College for a match scheduled for 4:00 p.m.