Clinched! Blue Hens Secure Spot in CAA Tournament After Impressive 2-2 Draw at No. 11 UNCW

Saturday, October 20

Wilmington, NC

7:00 PM

University of Delaware

4-9-1, 3-3-1CAA

UNCW

11-2-2, 4-0-2CAA

OT 3

OT 4

Delaware

UNCW

Photo by: Joe Browning/UNCW Athletics

Clinched! Blue Hens Secure Spot in CAA Tournament After Impressive 2-2 Draw at No. 11 UNCW

10/20/2018 10:21:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

WILMINGTON, N.C. – The University of Delaware men's soccer team battled back from an early two-goal deficit to earn an impressive 2-2 draw against 11th-ranked UNCW Saturday night, securing a spot in the upcoming CAA Tournament.

The Blue Hens (4-9-1, 3-3-1 CAA) remained in fourth place in the league table with 10 points. Delaware will finish ahead of Drexel and Elon, and holds the tiebreaker over Charleston. The Blue Hens have now qualified for the league tournament in seven of the last nine years, including five of the last six.

UNCW (11-2-2, 4-0-2 CAA), which stayed in second place in the conference standings, allowed multiple goals in a match for just the third time this season.

The Seahawks struck first just 4:30 on the contest when Wilhelm Nilsson collected a loose ball in front of the net and scored to give UNCW the early lead. Phillip Goodrum then scored following Ben Fisher's shot off the goalpost at the 13:07 mark to make it a 2-0 game.

However the Blue Hens would battle back, carrying the majority of the play for the rest of the half. Fede Prieto put Delaware on the board in the 35th minute when he took a cross from Robert Campbell and fired a laser from 20 yards out into the top left corner of the net.

UD then pulled even in the 58th minute as Jake Steinberg sent a cross near the right post to John Schroeder, who tapped in a shot from five yards out for his first goal of the season.

The teams played evenly from there, but neither squad could find the back of the net the rest of the way.

UNCW held a 16-10 shot advantage, including all five shots in the overtime periods, and a 13-4 edge in corner kicks. Todd Morton made four saves for the Blue Hens, while Ryan Cretens stopped two shots in the Seahawk goal.

Head Coach Ian Hennessy
"This was a terrific performance tonight against an excellent UNCW team, who are coming off a big win against NC State. They deserve their #11 ranking. I felt the seniors tonight led with some real quality, and more than anything I am delighted for them. They have achieved one of our starting goals which was to return to postseason play. Our next goal now is to look for a home playoff berth with a win against Northeastern next weekend."