WPU Knocks Off #4 Oklahoma Wesleyan in Top-15 Battle

Bartlesville, Okla.–The William Penn men’s soccer team recorded one of the biggest victories in its history as it rallied past #4 Oklahoma Wesleyan 3-1 in non-conference action Friday.

The 14th-ranked Statesmen (4-0) won the highly-anticipated matchup that featured a one-hour lightning delay before even kicking off.

Both sides had chances in the opening period, but the Eagles (1-1) were the ones to jump out ahead first with a penalty kick score at the 15:43 mark.

The navy and gold, who posted a 6-5 advantage in total shots, went into intermission still down 1-0, but quickly found the equalizer as Connor O’Reilly (Sr., Letterkenny, Ireland, General Accounting) scored off a corner kick from Miguel Menendez (So., Oveido, Spain, Wellness and Recreation) just 1:59 into the second period.

A handful of minutes later, the Statesmen were gifted an OKWU red card which put them up a man the remainder of the night.

William Penn took a long time to take advantage, but Sven Hennenberg (Fr., Dortmund, Germany) finally found the netting unassisted in the 81st minute. Less than three minutes later, the victors then tacked on an insurance goal O’Reilly put away another goal, this time a PK opportunity at the 84:22 mark.

The physical bout, which featured 29 fouls, 10 yellow cards, and one red card, concluded with the Statesmen holding on as Kevin Onelius (So., Soderhamn, Sweden, Psychology) finished with three saves.

“After not winning Upset of the Year at Monday’s Statesmen Awards Show, the guys wanted to make sure they do win it next year,” Head Coach Simon Brown said. “Oklahoma Wesleyan is a very good team that does not lose at home. I am really proud of how we played against such a great program on the road, but now we have a quick turnaround to face Friends on Sunday.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Wichita, Kan. Sunday to play Friends in non-conference action at 12 p.m.