CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College women's soccer team earned an important Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory, defeating Wilmington College 3-1 Saturday afternoon at Caldwell Field. The win gives the Cougars a CACC record of 3-1 and an overall mark of 5-3-1, while Wilmington drops to 4-5-1 overall and 2-2-1 in the conference.
The Cougars opened the scoring in the 39th minute, when sophomore midfielder Carla Bleiler's (Galloway Twp., NJ/Absegami) centering pass found junior Victoria Aguilera (Merida, Venezuela/Saucon Valley) in the penalty area. Aguilera scored from 10 yards out to give Caldwell the 1-0 lead. Just 12 seconds later, the Wildcats' Colby Bugda notched her fifth goal of the season with a blast from 18 yards out to tie the game.
Ten minutes into the second half, Bleiler (pictured) launched a shot from the right flank about 35 yards out that cleared Wilmington netminder Catie Joynes and dropped just under the crossbar for what proved to be the game-winner. Freshman midfielder Samantha Rinks (Corinth, TX/Billy Ryan) tallied an insurance goal in the 58th minute when she headed home a pass from senior forward Renata Fonseca (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Essex CC) for her fifth goal of the season.
Freshman goalkeeper Annie LaForge (Wayne, NJ/WayneValley) made nine saves to preserve the victory for Caldwell. Jones stopped 10 shots for Wilmington.
The win avenges a shootout loss to Wilmington in the semifinals of last year's CACC Tournament.
The Cougars, who haven't lost in five games, continue their CACC schedule with a match at Georgian Court University on Wednesday, Sept. 28, beginning at 3:30 p.m.
CC - 1 2 - 3
WC - 1 0- 1
Scoring Summary: 1. CC - Victoria Aguilera 4 (Carla Bleiler, Kristee Paknis), 38:53. 2. WC - Colby Bugda 5 (unassisted), 39:05. 3. CC - Bleiler 3 (Paknis), 55:28. 4. CC - Samantha Rinks 5 (Renata Fonseca), 57:19.
Shots: CC - 22; WC - 17
Saves: CC - Annie LaForge 9; WC - Catie Joynes 10
Corners: CC - 10; WC - 5
Fouls: CC - 7; WC - 5
Offsides: CC - 1; WC - 1
Cautions: none
