Statesmen Compete Well in Shutout

Oskaloosa–In spite of its 3-0 loss to Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Benedictine Saturday, the William Penn women’s soccer team walked off the pitch with a positive feeling moving forward for this year and beyond.

WPU (1-3, 0-2 Heart) was outshot 23-10 by the Ravens (2-0, 2-0 Heart), but played toe-to-toe with its opponent for much of the outing. BC opened the day’s scoring in the 19th minute and doubled the advantage just over 11 minutes later.

The hosts refused to throw up the white flag, however, keeping Benedictine off the scoreboard for the next 42-plus minutes of action. During that period, the navy and gold attacked the Raven net, including three early second-half tries by Kaitlin Falaney (So., Ottawa, Ill., Sports Management). The sophomore finished with three shots, second to only the five (four on goal) from Taylor Witthauer (Fr., Vancouver, Wash., Nursing).

Unfortunately, William Penn could not cut into the deficit and Benedictine wrapped up the scoring with the third and final goal of the afternoon at the 72:12 mark.

Katja Bierman (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) was busy between the pipes, tallying 11 saves in the losing cause.

“While the result might not show it, we were excellent today,” Head Coach Jack Hartley said. “We did not just compete with them today, we matched them the whole way and I do not think the result gave our performance justice. If the ladies can replicate that every time out, we have a bright future.”

Next Up: William Penn hosts Clarke in Heart action next Tuesday at 5 p.m.