LAKEWOOD, NJ (Oct. 7, 2024) - Georgian Court Men's Soccer is on a roll, winners of five straight and look to make it six straight with their first of two matches this week. 

Opponent
Wilmington Wildcats (2-6-2, 2-2-1 CACC)

Where
Lakewood, NJ - GCU Track and Field Complex (Turf Field)

When
Tuesday, Oct. 7 - 3 pm

How to Watch
• Tuesday's match is available to watch a free-to-view video on the Georgian Court portal of CACC Digital Network, powered by HUDL. Links for videos and live stats can be found above and on the Lions Soccer schedule page. 

Previously vs. Wilmington
• All-time against the Wildcats, Georgian Court is 4-7-1. Since 2016 though, the Lions are 4-3-1 in their last eight.
• A year ago, each team got a second-half goal to draw even, 1-1.
• Joseph Ficarotta scored first for the Lions in the 58th minute.
• With just nine minutes left to play though, Wilmington found the equalizer and the game ended 1-1. 

Last Time Out
• The Georgian Court defense shined once again in a 2-0 shutout win over Bridgeport.
• It was the Lions fourth shutout win in the last five games.
• Both Lion goals came shortly after corner kicks. The first, from Maurice Engl, was played to him at the top of the box from Mikey Mallon after the ball bounced around following the corner. Engl's shot deflected high off of a Bridgeport defender and into the net.
• Their second goal saw a corner kick pushed out wide but at the feet of Jack Pollintine-Smith who chipped it into the box where Gijs van Eif got his head on it to put it over the keeper and in for a goal. 
• Ayendi Batista made a career-high nine saves. 

Individual Milestones
• Alessandro Cavallini is 39 minutes short of 1500.
• Gijs van Eif is three points away from entering the Lions all-time and single-season top-10 for points scored. One more goal will move him into a tie for sixth all-time in both career and single-season goals. 
• Another shutout from Ayendi Batista will give him five which will be second-most for a single-season in Lions history and fourth for a career.
• Ryan Lee's next game played will be his 60th.
• Robbie Tapp is 24 minutes away from playing 2000.

CACC Leaders (Based on NCAA Statistics)
• Gijs van Eif is third in the CACC in both goals and points.
• At 0.857, Ayendi Batista is third in the CACC in goals against average. His four shutouts are tied for the league lead and his .824 save percentage is the second-highest. 
• Mikey Mallon is third in the league with 0.56 assists per game. His five assists are in the top-20 nationally. 
• GCU is committing the third fewest fouls per game at 11.30 and their 23 yellow cards is the second-fewest.  
• The Lions 4.70 corner kicks per game are the third most in the conference. 
• Defensively, the Lions 40% shutout percentage is tops in the CACC.
• On the offensive side, their 15 total goals is the fourth most in the conference. 

Who's Hot?
• One of the hottest goaltender's in the league if not the country is Ayendi Batista who has five straight wins allowing just two goals in that span with four shutouts. Batista made a career-high nine saves vs. Bridgeport and was this week's CACC Goalkeeper of the Week. 
• He of course is helped out by a defense that's playing extremely well.
• Gijs van Eif has goals in five of his last seven games played. 
• Mikey Mallon has an assist in four of his last five games.
• David Tuschmann has a goal in two of his last four games.
• Jack Pollintine-Smith has points in three straight.
• Bridgeport will be happy to not have to see Maurice Engl again. In four career games, he has three goals against the Purple Knights. 

About Wilmington
• There are typically plenty of points scored in Wilmington games. In 10 games this season, the Wildcats have neither been shutout or shut out an opponent.
• They have 20 goals scored, third-most in the CACC, but have allowed 29, second-worst in the conference.
• Wilmington is 2-6-2 through 10 games, but 2-2-1 in the CACC. The team is also much better on the road at 2-1-0.
• Theo Faillon is the guy for the Wildcats. He leads the CACC with nine goals, eight-best in the country.
• Charlie Phillips has played every minute in goal and has a .554 save percentage and 36 total saves.
• In addition to goals, there's usually lots of whistles for fouls and cards in Wildcat matches. Their 30 yellow-cards are second-most in the league and just outside the top-10 in Division II.
• The Wildcats are adept at putting the ball on net. They're 7.7 shots on goal per game are second-most in the CACC as is their .538 shot accuracy which is also 12th in the nation.