ERIE, PA – The Gannon University men's soccer team played tough defense and James Pool (Hastings, England/Claverham) scored the only goal midway through the first half as the Golden Knights celebrated their home opener with a 1-0 win over Wilmington (Del.) on Sunday afternoon at McConnell Family Stadium.

Coach Billy Colton's 18th-ranked Gannon team improved to 3-1-0 and bounced back from its only loss, a 1-0 setback at Ashland on Wednesday.

Gannon snapped a scoreless tie with a Pool goal at the 21:15 mark of the first half that resulted from a series of passes downfield from the Golden Knights. The last two passes were from Sergio Del Castillo (Madrid, Spain) in the top of the box, to Tinashe Katsande (Norwich, England/Dereham Sixth Form College) on the right, as he chipped a pass to the middle of the box, where Pool was waiting. He took the pass and booted it to the left of the charging Wilmington goalie.

"The goal was fantastic," Colton said. "We started from our own goal kick, where we played 10 or 11 passes and finished with a late runner in the box from a midfielder. It was a good, composed finish. … It's not all about how many passes to score a goal; if we score from one pass, we don't care, but it was a good team goal."

The Gannon defense played well against Wilmington, which outshot Gannon 14-7. Even though Gannon had only seven total shots, five of them were on goal.

However, only three of Wilmington's shots were on goal as Gannon keeper David Synstelien (Gjovik, Norway/Gjovik Vinderegaende) made three saves for the shutout. He also snagged several loose balls in heavy traffic, which thwarted good scoring opportunities for Wilmington.

Colton was happy with the shutout. "The clean sheet should give us some confidence in the back," he said. "We haven't had a clean sheet all year."

Wilmington, which is playing a tough early season schedule, dropped to 1-2-1. The Wildcats were coming off a 3-1 win over No. 6 Millersville.

"It was a tough game. They were a good team," Colton said. "We always knew they were going to be a tough team. They'll be there in their conference at the end of the season and in the national rankings and in the national tournament, so that was a good one for us."

Gannon will return to action Saturday at 6 p.m., when it will host Seton Hill in a PSAC West opener.