Statesmen Have Strong Opening to Season

Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s soccer team broke into the season with a 3-1 win over the Morningside Mustangs Saturday night in non-conference action.

The Statesmen (1-0) had to wait longer than expected to start the 2022 season after a near four-hour weather delay pushed back the start of the game. Despite the delay, WPU was energized in the early moments as Luigi Mongan (So., Manchester, England) put the team up 1-0 at the 15-minute mark in the first half. Lukas Koch (Sr., Moers, Germany, Sports Management) assisted on the opening goal.

The Statesmen would get some solid defensive play as they shut out Morningside in the first half.

Morningside (0-2) opened the second half with a goal of its own, tying the game up 1-1.

That tie would not last long as Joseph Kitengie (Sr., Benoni, South Africa, Business Management) scored off a Koch assist.

William Penn tacked on another goal as Maxime Eschemann (Fr. Saignelegier, Switzerland) extended the lead to 3-1 to close out the game.

The Statesmen lost the shots battle 11-10, but tied on the shots on goal with four to each side. Harry Nash (Sr., Basingstoke, England, Sports Management) strong in the net with three saves.

Coach Simon Brown highlighted the depth they have in this quote, “We are happy to have 3 different goal scorers, that we are creating chances, and depth in the squad to be able to play 20 different players against a top side.”

Next Up: The Statesmen will be back in action next Wednesday at home against Iowa Wesleyan at 7:30 PM.