WILMINGTON, Del. - Nothing helps a slumping team quite like a fast start. Senior
Richy Valverde scored two of his team's three first-half goals, and Millersville rolled to a 3-1 win at Wilmington Wednesday.
Millersville (3-3) had been shut out in three of its previous four matches, but Valverde's second and third goals of the season both came in the first 12 minutes of the match, giving Millersville a comfortable lead early.
"It's always important to get the first goal in a game," said Millersville head coach
Steve Widdowson. "It was something we talked about yesterday, so the most pleasing part was seeing a reaction and success in something we were focusing on."
Creating chances has been key for the Marauders as they are now 3-1 when attempting double-digit shots. They finished with 15 against the Wildcats, out-shooting the home team by four. Valverde,
Roy Parkyn and
Kehmar Green led the Marauders with three shots each.
"Our attack was much better today," said Widdowson. "We put in a lot of work the last two days on our patterns of play and where and how we want to attack. Thankfully that showed with better productivity, but there is still work to be done there as well as in other areas."
Valverde put the first tally on the board in the match's third minute. He created a turnover in the midfield and slid a pass to the right sideline.
Mikhil Patil chased down the pass in the right corner and sent a pass of his own right back to Valverde, who smoothly booted the ball into the upper right corner of the goal.
Fewer than nine minutes later,
Michael Dempsey, working up the left sideline, perfectly placed a pass to Valverde, who headed the ball inside the left post.
Wilmington pulled within one on a goal from Theo Faillon in the 24th minute, but Millersville pushed its lead back to two with
Tylen Thomas' first career goal.
Danny Gartner out-ran his defender to the right edge of the box, winning a long pass from the backfield. With one touch, he delivered a low cross the width of the box, meeting Thomas in stride. Thomas tapped the into a wide-open left side of the goal.
All three of the Marauders' goals scored on Wednesday, and each of the last six scored dating back to Sept. 18, have been assisted--a point of pride for Widdowson's Marauders.
"We are a passing team, and we pride ourselves on that," said Widdowson. "The goals were very well constructed and built from our game plan. Now we just need to be more consistent with it both within games and from game to game. The more we share the ball and play unselfishly the more successful we will be. I hope the boys are recognizing that now as we move to a run of huge PSAC games."
Neither team converted on its chances in the final 45 minutes, thanks in part to the play of the goalkeepers. Millersville's
Jake Van Vorhees made four saves, giving him 12 with two goals allowed in three starts.
MATCH NOTES
- Millersville improved to 6-8-2 all-time against Wilmington and has won two in row. It was Millersville's first win at Wilmington since 2003 and just the second ever.
- Valverde now leads the team with three goals. He totaled three goals in each of his first two seasons before totaling five in 2023.
UP NEXT
- Millersville returns to PSAC East play against East Stroudsburg and hosts its annual Alumni Day on Saturday, Sept. 28.
