Throughout the years, whether it has been the consistent quality of the opponent or the lengthy travel time to get there, victories have been hard to come by down at Wilmington College for the John Carroll women's soccer team.

On this particular Saturday evening, however, the three-and-a-half hour bus ride was made worth the while as a late goal helped lift the Blue Streaks to a rare 2-1 victory over the host Quakers at Gilhart Field.
Box Score

JCU handed Wilmington its first loss in Ohio Athletic Conference this season.

In the 19th minute, Betsy Haigh remained red hot on the offensive end to put the Blue Streaks on the board first. Haigh headed in a Valerie Korb  pass into the net for her third goal of the week.

John Carroll held its 1-0 advantage until the 60th minute when Wilmington returned the favor. Katie Sakelski put a header in of her own to knot the score at 1-1.

The score remained deadlocked into the 82nd minute, when Carolyn Vespoli made her first goal as a Blue Streak one for the memory books. She ripped her free kick following a Quaker foul into the upper left corner to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

Molly Gradowski, who made six saves, had to make one last one in the final 15 seconds to preserve the win. The Quakers held a 19-7 advantage in shots but JCU made better use of its opportunities to win for second time in as many matches this week

John Carroll is now 5-6-2 overall and 2-1 in the OAC, while Wilmington slips to 6-5-1 and 2-1 in league play.