ERIE, Pa. - - A first half goal was all No. 18 Gannon needed as the Knights defeated the Wilmington University men's soccer team, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon at McConnell Family Stadium.
The Wildcats outshot the Knights, 14-7, but could only get three of them on frame for the afternoon. The Wildcats are now 1-2-1 overall this season.
Gannon's (3-1) James Pool found himself wide open in the middle of the 18-yard box and easily slotted the shot past Bas Markus for the 1-0 lead in the 25th minute.
Nine of the Wildcats 14 shots came in the second half, including a bending shot from atop the 18-yard box from Tajhay Williams. The Knights' keeper David Synstelien needed to leave his feet and dive to his left to make the sprawling save and keep the Wildcats off the board with 26 minutes to play. Yohan Kim had the other two shots on goal for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats went down to 10-men in the 67th minute unfortunately, but still found a way to put pressure on the Knights. Williams, Richard Thompson, and Paul Young all recorded shots down the stretch, but the Wildcats remained off the board.
Bas Markus made four saves in goal for the Wildcats while Synstelien made all three stops for the shutout for the Knights.
The Wildcats will play their fourth road game in their first five matches to start the season on Wednesday, as they travel to Waltham, Massachusetts to battle Bentley. The opening whistle is set for 3:00 p.m.