Offense Explodes for Six Scores, Statesmen Extend Streak to Four

Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s soccer team pushed their winning streak to four games on Tuesday, winning in dominant fashion over the Mount Mercy Mustangs, 6-0.

The Statesmen improve to 9-6 on the season while getting back to a winning record in the Heart of America Athletic Conference at 5-4.

The navy and gold applied pressure early, sending away three shots early on but all of them sailing wide. Tiago Ravagni (Jr., Buenos Aires, Argentina, Industrial Technology) put the first shot on goal, but it was saved. The Statesmen dominated possession time though, continuing to get open looks.

Finally, 25 minutes into the half, the Statesmen capitalized. Sagar Bhattarai (Sr., Columbus, Ohio, Information Systems) lined up to take a corner kick, and Joseph Kitengie (Jr., Benoni, South Africa, Business Management) was there to head it home. His fifth goal of the year gave the Statesmen first advantage before the break.

William Penn completely dominated the visitors in the opening 45 minutes, out-shooting them 12-0 in the first half.

The Statesmen carried that momentum with them into the second half, as it only took Gianmarco Centrella (Jr., Rome, Italy, Business Management) three minutes to come up with a steal near the penalty box and fire it home to extend the lead to 2-0. Just four minutes later, Lukas Koch (Jr., Moers, Germany, Sports Management) found Kenedy Deviska (Sr., Pignon, Haiti, Wellness and Recreation) on a quick throw-in, and Deviska burst through the open space and deposited a shot just inside the left post. Only 90 seconds passed until Centrella got involved again, taking a deep cross from Koch and driving it into the left side net to quickly extend the lead to 4-0.

The offense went quiet for a little bit after that, but just shy of the 70th minute, Centrella polished off his second hat trick of the season. Hugo Lorenzo (So., Madrid, Spain, Mechanical Engineering) took a header off of a cross that hit off the crossbar, but Centrella was there to head home the deflection for his third goal of the night, pushing him into double digits for the season with 10. A minute later, Chanin Olandin (Fr., Oslo, Norway, Sports Management) finished off the scoring for the night, giving the Statesmen a 6-0 lead after his second goal of the season.

The Statesmen dominated both sides of the ball all night, out-shooting the Mustangs 25-4 and preventing them from taking a shot on goal. The Statesmen, by contrast, had 14 of their shots on target.

“After a slow first half in front of goal, the forwards came out firing, and with a great energy about them in the second half,” said Head Coach Simon Brown. “It was great to see so many different goal scorers and a variety of goals. We hope to bring this good run of form into a very tough contest against one of the best teams in the country in Baker on Saturday.”

What’s Next: The Statesmen square off with the #17 Baker Wildcats on Saturday, their final ranked opponent and final road contest of the regular season. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM.