(WILMINGTON, Ohio) – After winning their final regular season game last night, 7-3 over the Marietta College Pioneers, the Wilmington College men's soccer team earned the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament and host the No. 6 seed Capital University Comets at Williams Stadium on Tuesday night at 7:00 P.M.

Season Overview
In Cory Bucur's fourth season as Head Men's Soccer Coach, he led the Quakers to a 13-4-2 overall record and a 6-2 conference record. Bucur's 13 wins are the most in a regular season since he has taken over. His team's technical, yet offensive and hard-nosed focus has earned Wilmington the 3rd seed in the conference tournament. Last season, Wilmington lost at Otterbein University in the first round of the tournament. The Quakers reached the OAC Tournament Championship match in 2022 but fell to John Carroll University.

Wilmington ranks at the top of the conference offensively. The Quakers finished the regular season with 48 goals scored, tied for first with the University of Mount Union. Their 343 shots are the most in the conference. Individually, sophomore forward Parker Burke finished second in the conference with 14 goals and first with 76 shots. Burke's four game winning goals are also tied for first in the OAC.

Alongside Burke, junior forward Jordan Domoe finished fourth in the conference with seven assists. Domoe also scored eight goals for Wilmington, second most on the team. The combination of Eli Eyrich and Kaden Young round out the Quakers impressive offense. Eyrich's five goals are the third most for Wilmington, and Young's four goals are fourth most. Young also tallied six assists; finishing tied for fifth in the OAC.

In nine games, goalkeeper Erik Axelsson has made 28 saves with a 70% save percentage. The defense, led by senior captain Connor Neidemire, only allowed 25 goals, tied for third best in the conference. Junior defender Jase Edmonson, has also been a staple in the Quakers backline, appearing in 18 games with 17 starts.

The midfield's impressive combination of defense and offense has been the key to unlocking the field for Wilmington. Freshman Brayden Spencer, who started all 19 games alongside junior midfielder Jace Houck, has been pivotal to Bucur's side. Spencer scored three goals with two assists and played the most minutes out of any Quaker with 1,483. Houck scored two goals with one assist.

Opponent Preview
In the regular season, the Quakers hosted the Comets nearly two weeks ago in Wilmington. Wilmington defeated Capital 4-1 in that contest. Goals by Aidan Barnishin and Akol Malow in the first half put Wilmington ahead 2-0 heading into halftime. A penalty kick in the 63rd minute put the Comets on the board, but the dynamic duo of Parker Burke and Jordan Domoe both scored to secure the Quakers 4-1 victory. Wilmington took 29 shots in that match with 12 on target, while drawing five corner kicks.

Capital finished the regular season 4-10-2 overall, going 3-4-1 in the OAC. Offensively, Capital only scored 23 goals, the second least in the OAC. The Comets allowed 33 goals, the fifth most. Their opponents average 2.20 goals per game. Notably, their offense also has the second least shots with just 130. Darrick Harris and Christian Monzalvo tied for the lead with seven goals for the Comets. No other player has more than two goals. Defensively, goalkeeper Ethan Ogden has been forced to make 59 saves in 12 games, allowing 24 goals. Capital lost their final regular season match to Mount Union 4-1.

From Coach Bucur
"We are very proud of the results we have earned throughout the regular season, but we aren't satisfied with regular season success. This group had potential last year but we struggled the last five games. The experiences we went through then have helped us this season and we have a lot of positive momentum going into the postseason, especially knowing we get to host a quarterfinal. We can't wait to pack Williams Stadium first for the women's game and then our game!"
 
OAC Preview
Looking over the rest of the tournament, Ohio Northern University finished as the No. 1 seed while Otterbein took the No. 2 seed.

The other first round matchup features No. 5 seed Baldwin Wallace University at No. 4 seed Mount Union on Tuesday at 7:00 P.M.

The semifinals will take place on Thursday, November 6th while The OAC Championship is set for Sunday, November 9th.