Wesley Eliminates St. Mary’s in CAC Quarterfinal
Dover, Del. - Freshman midfielder Omar De Los Santos (Prescott Valley, Ariz./Prescott Valley) netted the game-winner with 2:53 left in the first overtime period as the fourth-seeded Wolverines knocked out fifth-seeded St. Mary's College of Maryland, 2-1, in Capital Athletic Conference Quarterfinal action Sunday afternoon.
De Los Santos' goal punched Wesley's ticket to Wednesday's Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) semifinal match-up at top-seeded York (Pa.) College, the No. 2 team in the country.
In other quarterfinal action, third-seeded Salisbury University handed sixth-seeded Marymount (Va.) University a 7-1 setback. Salisbury will face second-seeded University of Mary Washington in the semifinals on Wednesday at Mary Washington.
This is the second straight season that Wesley (11-6-2) has eliminated St. Mary's from the CAC Men's Soccer Tournament in first-round action. Last year, Wesley advanced to the semifinals on penalty kicks after finishing regulation and overtime play in a 1-1 draw.
De Los Santos received a deep cross from sophomore midfielder Mike Thomas (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) and finished for the game-winner at 97:07.
The Seahawks (5-10-4) took a 1-0 lead in the first half as junior midfielder Zack Butcher (Owings, Md./Northern) found the back of the net at 14:33 as freshman forward Chris Quamina (Glen Burnie, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) assisted on the play.
Wesley knotted the game at 1-1 just a 1:20 into the start of the second half when sophomore midfielder Kyle Lawrence (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) completed a pass from De Los Santos.
Shots were relatively even as Wesley edged the Seahawks, 13-11, while corner kicks were dead even at three.
Freshman Dan Gressang (Bowie, Md./Bishop McNamara) registered three stops in the loss for St. Mary's as Gressang finished his rookie campaign with a 3-6-3 mark.
Sophomore Nick Talarico (Little Egg Harbor, N.J./Pinelands) made six saves for Wesley to help the Wolverines stay alive in the CAC Tournament.
St. Mary's 2008 campaign comes to an end with a 5-10-4 overall record (3-3-2 CAC).
