By: Erin Madden
BEREA, Ohio -- The Baldwin Wallace University women's soccer team weathered the wind, rain and Wilmington College for an Ohio Athletic Conference victory by a final score of 1-0 on the Tressel Field inside The George Finnie Stadium.
BW (9-8-1, 2-4-1 OAC), who has won three of the last four games, improved to 8-20-2 in the all-time series with Wilmington (8-6-1, 3-4 OAC).
In net for BW, senior Academic All-OAC goalkeeper Emma Bruno (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bethel Park) registered her seventh shutout of the season and the 19th of her career as she did not face a single shot on goal.
BW had its fair share of scoring opportunities in the first half with four shots on goal. Freshman forward/midfielder Brandi Filippi (Pickerington/Pickering North) had the first look in the 11th minute when she sent a high arcing shot off the crossbar. Two additional shots came from junior midfielder Alex Guido (Macomb, Mich./Eisenhower) in the 23rd minute in the form of back-to-back strikes that were saved by the Quaker goalie. Meanwhile, Wilmington worked its way up the field and took its best shot in the 34th minute, which was sent off the right post. The Yellow Jackets almost broke the stalemate right before halftime when junior Academic All-OAC midfielder Kaitlin McGuire (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) received a cross from the right side and put a firm strike right in the goalie's hands.
Coming out of the locker room at halftime, BW struck quickly in the 48th minute thanks to a Wilmington own goal. Sophomore midfielder Maddie Farrell (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) let off a shot that was deflected right off the Quaker defender into the left corner of the goal for the lone score of the game. Wilmington had a dangerous opportunity in the 54th minute with a cross right in front of the box; however, the Quakers were whistled for being offsides. Scoring opportunities were sparse for the rest of the game as the rain steadily increased. Late in the game, the Yellow Jackets were able to keep the ball in the offensive field to prevent an equalizing goal and secure the victory.
With just two games remaining in the regular season, BW is currently sitting in sixth place ahead of Heidelberg University. The top six teams will advance into the 2019 OAC Tournament.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Wednesday, October 30 when they hits the road for the final time during the regular season for an OAC game against the University of Mount Union inside Mount Union Stadium at 7 p.m. The final home game of the regular season is on Saturday, November 2 when BW host an OAC and Seniors' Night game against Marietta College at 7 p.m.
