WILMINGTON – It was a busy week for Padua’s soccer team, and the Pandas passed the audition with flying colors. They won on May 1 for the third time in five days, scoring a 2-1 win over Newark Charter on senior night at Abessinio Stadium.
This followed a road win on Monday at Wilmington Charter, followed by a 3-0 shutout of defending Division I state champion Middletown in a downpour on Wednesday evening.
The Patriots entered the game with a 5-3-1 record, but all of their losses had come to top competition. They provided a stiff challenge to the Pandas all night.
Things got off to a positive start for Padua, which didn’t need long to get on the scoreboard. In the sixth minute, Emme Mulvena (St. Mary Magdalen Parish) drove down the right side, got some space and sent a shot past the Newark Charter keeper.
The Patriots answered almost immediately. After a corner kick, Newark Charter kept the ball in their offensive zone, and it paid off. Kelly Newcott found herself alone at the top of the 18-yard box and sent a left-footed blast high past Pandas keeper Ellie Semmel (St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother Parish, Avondale, Pa.) to level the score.
That was it for the scoring for nearly the rest of the game, although Padua came close on several occasions. They dominated possession for most of the contest but were foiled when trying to retake the lead. Newark Charter’s keeper stopped Mulvena in the 12th minute, and following a steal by Abaigeal Igo, Madison Tymes also had a shot saved. A few shots went over the net or were just wide.
The Pandas, who played an aggressive checking game all night, had three corner kicks in the first 17 minutes of the second half, but they could not convert. Finally, in the 63rd, Mulvena came through with her second of the night and the eventual deciding goal. She broke loose from a defender, went up the middle one on one with the keeper and went low to the keeper’s right for the goal.
Newark Charter turned up the heat on the Pandas’ defense, but they could not get anything of substance on Semmel. As the minutes remaining dwindled, the Pandas did their best to pin the ball in the corners deep in their offensive end.
Padua improved to 5-3-1 and begins a three-match road trip on May 4 at Polytech at 4 p.m. The Patriots (5-4-1) are home on May 6 against Saint Mark’s at 7 p.m.
Photos by Mike Lang.
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