NEWARK, Del. - - Wilmington women's soccer head coach Josh Ruggiero would have liked to see his 50th career victory come a little easier on Wednesday afternoon, but the sixth year skipper will take the win any way he can.
Ruggiero's Wildcats needed to comeback from an early 1-0 deficit but scored back-to-back goals in the first half to come back and defeat crosstown rivals Goldey-Beacom, 2-1, on Wednesday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest.
The win was the second straight for the Wildcats, as they now sit in sit in fourth in the CACC with a 3-1 record and improve to 3-4 overall. With the loss, Goldey-Beacom falls to 0-4 overall and 0-4 in the CACC.
After turning the ball over at midfield in the fifth minute, Goldey-Beacom's Alexandra Smith went in on Wildcats' keeper Julia Brown alone and got a shot off before the defense could arrive, beating Brown to her left side and ringing the post before the ball entered the goal. It was Smith's and the Lightning's first goal of the season.
Freshman Kim Richer got the Wildcats on the board eight minutes later however, taking a pass from Jordanne Hoesli-Atkins at 25 yards out and blasted a strike that beat the Lightning keeper high and snuck under the cross bar. Richer's second goal of the season came 12:23 into the match to tie the score.
After continuing to dominate in the first half, the Wildcats finally went ahead with a second goal at the 33:19 mark. Making a run down the left side, Richer turned the corner and was able to put a ball across to the top of the 18-yard penalty box. Junior Victoria Vasapolli put the ball on her left foot and took a shot to the upper right corner of the goal, beating Lightning goalkeeper Cindell Aguirre for the 2-1 lead.
Despite outshooting the Lightning, 20-6, for the match, the two first half goals were all the Wildcats would put on the board in the victory. The Wildcats also earned move corners in the match, 8-0.
Aguirre made 10 saves in goal for the Lightning but fell to 0-4 on the season. Brown needed to make three saves in goal for the Wildcats to improve to 3-3 on the year.
Ruggiero, already the program's all-time wins leader in the NCAA era, is now 50-46-6 overall and 40-19-4 in the CACC. As a program, the Wildcats are now sitting with 99 wins since the 2004 season.
The Wildcats are back in action this weekend when the team kicks off a soccer doubleheader at the WU Athletics Complex during the 2013 Wilmington University Homecoming festivities. The team will play Caldwell starting at 12:30 p.m.