Wilmington Hammerheads FC mustered a late winner in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time as Kyle Parker notched his second of the match to lift Wilmington to a dramatic 3-2 victory against the Harrisburg City Islanders at Legion Stadium on Friday.
Parker’s header off an Ashani Fairclough assist gave the Hammerheads their second consecutive league win and third result this past week. Fairclough and Parker pushed early into Harrisburg’s final third, notching back-to-back goals for a 2-0 advantage through the opening 14 minutes.
The early lead didn’t last long. Bobby Warshaw brought his team back, tallying twice before the 30th minute mark to level the score two-all.
Wilmington goalkeeper John Smits rose in the key moment during the second half as both sides were searching for that go-ahead goal. Smits, who has played every minute in goal for the Hammerheads this year, was called upon three times in the span of a four-minute stretch late in the match. A couple of diving stops and a key punch-out kept Harrisburg at bay.
Peabe Doue also nearly found the game-winner in the 69th minute for Wilmington, but Harrisburg backup goalkeeper Keasel Broome made a clutch stop to set up Parker’s dramatic stoppage time score.
The result lifted Wilmington back into the playoff picture, improving to 4-4-3 (15 points) overall and 2-2-2 at home. The City Islanders fell to 4-7-1 (13 points) and 1-5-0 on the road.
Scoring:
3’ – WIL – Ashani Fairclough
14’ – WIL – Kyle Parker (Austin Martz)
17’ – HAR – Bobby Warshaw
27’ – HAR – Bobby Warshaw (Jose Barril)
90’ – WIL – Kyle Parker (Ashani Fairclough)
Next match: June 9: Harrisburg City Islanders at New York Red Bulls II; 7 p.m. ET, Red Bull Arena
June 11: Wilmington Hammerheads FC at Louisville City FC; 7:30 p.m. ET, Slugger Field
