The no. 11 UNC Wilmington men’s soccer team took an early 2-0 lead but were later pegged back in an eventual 2-2 draw with Delaware in a pivotal Colonial Athletic Association matchup on Saturday night at UNCW Soccer Stadium.  

The Seahawks (11-2-2, 4-0-2) came into Saturday’s game on a four-game winning streak – one that included a 3-0 win over no. 21 NC State on Tuesday night – and looked well on their way to extending that streak within the first 15 minutes of the contest.  

Junior defender Wilhelm Nilsson scored the first goal of his UNCW career since transferring to the school from St. John’s on five minutes when a Ben Fisher free kick bounced around in the box before Nilsson fired it home. UNCW doubled their lead nearly nine minutes later when a Fisher direct free kick slammed off the crossbar before junior forward Phillip Goodrum took advantage of an open net to walk in his tenth goal of the season. 

However, the Blue Hens (4-9-1, 3-3-1) fought back to halve the deficit in the 35th minute when junior midfielder Fede Prieto scored his second goal of the season with a long-range drive off an assist from teammate Robert Campbell. Delaware’s momentum continued into the second half, and they were rewarded with a 58th-minute equalizer through senior John Schroeder.  

UNCW then continued to press the issue throughout the rest of the game, having had all five shots across both overtime periods, but could not find the winner and had to settle for a share of the spoils. 

“We got off to a really good start to get two goals ahead,” Seahawks head coach Aidan Heaney said postgame. “I think that’s the most disappointing part is that we were 2-0 ahead. But we’ve got to give Delaware credit, they were excellent tonight. They played some really good football, got the two goals back and then it was a very even game.” 

Nilsson and Fisher both spoke of the result postgame. 

“It felt good to score, but we couldn’t [go on to] win the game,” Nilsson said of his goal and the result postgame. 

“We’re a little disappointed with the outcome,” Fisher said. “Being up two goals early is often pretty dangerous because you get complacent, so that’s something we need to work on. I think all we can really do now is look ahead…it’s in the past, and at least we got a point out of it.” 

The Seahawks play their final non-conference outing of the 2018 season when they host Coastal Carolina on Wednesday, Oct. 24 for a 7 p.m. kickoff.