Wilmington defeats Capital

Benedict and Kinsel record two goals apiece

(WC Press Release) Wilmington, OH (November 1, 2003) -- The Wilmington College Quakers ended their season with a 5-4 victory over the visiting Capital Crusaders. With the win, the Quakers extended their streak of winning seasons to 27 years. The final record for the Quakers stands at 10-9-1 on the year and 5-4 in the OAC. With the loss, Capital will end their season with a 7-13-0 record overall and 3-6 in the conference.

The win came on senior night, as seniors Kenny Howard (Xenia/Xenia), Ben Hawkins (Springfield/North), Ben Williams (Ft. Thomas, KY/Newport Central Catholic), and Ryan Grant (Huber Heights/Wayne) ended their fine careers on their home field.

Both teams came out shooting and were able to tally two goals apiece in the first half. Wilmington struck first with an unassisted goal by junior forward Mark Kinsel (Canal Winchester/Canal Winchester) when he gathered a loose ball at the top of the box and beat the Capital goalie. Five minutes later, the Crusaders struck back with a goal by Eric Tarr. Wilmington wasted no time in taking the lead back as the Quakers leading scorer on the year, David Benedict (Cincinnati/North College Hill) took a beautiful heel flick from freshman Chad Garman (Dayton/Chaminade Julienne) and scored just three minutes later. Capital would again come back and tie the game with a goal by Nick Kalay. All of the first half goals were scored in an 11-minute span. The score would remain 2-2 as the game went to half time.

In the second half, as the fog rolled in on Charlie Gilhart Field, Wilmington looked poised to run away with the game, only to see Capital fight back again and again. Wilmington came out and scored the first two goals of the half. The first goal came with 27:31 on the clock when Kinsel scored his second goal of the game. Kinsel's goal was assisted by Hawkins and Jonas Petterson (Bergeforsen, Sweden/Timra Gymnasium). Not to be out done, Benedict took a Hawkins pass from the right side and beat the Capital goalie for his second of the game and 18th on the season, giving the Quakers a two-goal advantage. The Crusaders were able to cut the lead in half when Drew Yost sent a shot off the crossbar and into the back of the net. Wilmington went back up by two when Garman scored off of a Brian Deal (Sidney/Sidney) pass from the right side.

Capital closed the scoring in the game with a Shawn Brewer goal with 5:04 left in the game. The Quakers were able to hold off the Crusaders for the remainder of the game for the 5-4 win.

Howard played all 90 minutes in goal for the Quakers, recording three saves in the game.

• Benedict named OAC Player of the Week
• Saylor named OAC Player of the Week