Thyer the Hero for the Statesmen in Win Over Ravens
Oskaloosa – A spirited affair on Drost Field saw William Penn men’s soccer down 2-1 in the second half against the Ravens of Benedictine. Two goals, with the winner coming with just two minutes on the clock, saw WPU complete the comeback and take their first win in Heat of America Athletic Conference play, with William Thyer (Jr., Bridgend, Wales, Sports Management) netting the game winner. The team now sits at 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the Heart.
The Statesmen wanted to take the play they had in Canton on Wednesday night and find a way to finish off a game. To that end, they came out looking sharp in the first half. Back-to-back corner kicks were taken within three minutes despite the Ravens holding their own. The visitors nabbed the first shot in the ninth minute but it would sail wide. Milton Magana (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif.) would get the first shot for WPU away but it too missed the frame. The navy and gold pressed and hounded the Ravens, leading to some mistakes but the Statesmen could not find a way to get a clean look at goal.
The Ravens were up for a battle and had four corners in succession with a couple good looks. However, the clears were made and the Statesmen continued to look upfield. With 23 minutes gone, Victor Hernandez (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif., Exercise Science) was brought on and after two minutes, he was given a ball to chase. With a burst of speed, he zipped past the defender as he pushed the ball ahead to chase after himself. The defender grabbed Hernandez and pulled him down in the box, giving a penalty kick to William Penn. Sagar Bhattarai (Jr., Columbus, Ohio) stepped up and with confidence placed it into the top-right corner of the net. His first as a Statesmen made it 1-0.
The rest of the half saw the Ravens start to recover from the fast-moving start but it was still the Statesmen who had the better of the play. The throw-in plays from Donaciano Mesina (Sr., Inglewood, Calif., Sports Management) caused some headaches for the Raven defense and Benedictine could not generate much until the final five minutes when they got two shots that both were off the mark. With a lead in hand and the momentum, WPU entered the break feeling confident. Despite being down 4-3 on the shot tracker, the home side had the only goal and shot on goal. They also held a 5-4 corner kick edge.
The first 10 minutes of the second half saw more of the same as Korby Ring (So., Independence, Mo., Political Science) fired the first shot of the second half on target, forcing a save of Isaac Jenkins. But 10 minutes in, the Ravens started to take their halftime lessons to heart and began to gain their own confidence. Rafael Martins (Jr., Boca Raton, Fla.), in his first start ever for William Penn, recorded his first official save and was forced to do some more work as the visitors racked up a couple corner kicks. After Lukas Koch (So., Moers, Germany, Sports Management) missed a shot, a long ball sprung a Ravens attacker on the near side who then crossed a beautiful ball that would be finished off behind Martins to level the score on 59 minutes.
Just two minutes later, another good ball sprung Benedictine, who netted their second goal to nab the lead. The navy and gold now found themselves trailing and the team responded quickly.
Just another two minutes passed before a free kick allowed a cross into the box. While it was cleared away, it floated up and down towards Magana, who launched a volley on his non-dominant left foot. The quality almost did not match the effortless look that Magana had in the shot as he pounded it into the top corner of the net for a stupendous goal to tie the game at 2-2-.
From there, both sides made up and down runs that opened up the game to a thrilling conclusion. Messina had two long range efforts just miss wide while the Ravens had a couple good crosses thatchallenged but did not break the Statesmen back line.
Time began to wind down when a couple fouls by the Ravens allowed WPU to set up opportunities deep in the final third. One led to Ring getting a head to a ball that just missed the far post. After that, another deep cross could not be brought down and it rolled towards the end line. Kenedy Deviska (Jr., Pignon, Haiti, Wellness & Recreation) saved it and tried a shot but was blocked. He followed that up with a second attempt that found Thyer alone and the junior headed it home in the 89 minute to give the Statesmen the edge. His first goal sent Drost Field into pandemonium as he celebrated with the team and the fans. With not much time left, the Ravens got one deep ball in but Martins rose above the other bodies to bring it down and seal the win.
William Penn tied the Ravens with 13 shots but led the shots on goal category 6-4 and the corner kick count 6-5. Two shots from Ring, Magana, and Nick Serrano (Jr., Inglewood, Calif.) led the team while Martins made two saves.
“Really happy for the boys to get a win,” said Head Coach Simon Brown, as he also notched his first victory as the man in charge of the team. “They are better than their record shows. The coach in me is still disappointed that we gave away a 1-0 lead at half time for the third game in a row. When things aren’t going your way, you need moments of magic and we got that with Milton’s goal and Will’s late winner. Hopefully we take this momentum into Tuesday night’s game against Clarke.”
Next up: The Pride of Clarke will travel to Drost for a Tuesday night showdown at 7:30 p.m.
