Perez Hat Trick Headlines 7-1 Season-Opening Win Over Morningside
Oskaloosa–Javier Perez (So., Alicante, Spain, Business Management) found the back of the net three times Friday as the Statesmen men’s soccer team rolled past Morningside 7-1 in its non-conference season opener.
No. 7 William Penn (1-0) only outshot the Mustangs (0-1) by a 14-9 margin, but was efficient with its tries in posting a 10-3 edge in shots on goal.
Despite owning much of the early possession, the hosts fell into a 1-0 hole at the 6:08 mark.
With his team still trailing MU in the 17th minute, Perez intercepted a pass from the opposing goalkeeper and flicked a shot over his head for the equalizer.
Less than three minutes later, the sophomore collected a pass and deposited it for a 2-1 advantage. Alexander Greaves (Sr., Hertford, England, Sports Management) and Leonardo Jimenez (So., Mexico City, Mexico, Business Management) assisted on the score.
Then at the 23:19 mark, Perez concluded his hat trick, the first for WPU since 2024. Shahin Adwan (Jr., Aarau, Switzerland, Business Management) and Hector Bastos (So., Vitoria, Brazil, Computer Science) helped their teammate on his third and final tally.
Up 3-1 entering the second stanza, four other Statesmen joined the goal-scoring club. Jarred Hendricks (Sr., Cape Town, South Africa) did so first with an alert play, stealing the ball from an unsuspecting Mustang keeper and feeding a ball unopposed into the goal in the 48th minute.
Greaves added a goal to his prior assist off a pass from Juan Naranjo (Sr., Albacete, Spain) at the 56:43 juncture, while Gonzalo Rawinad (Fr., Gijon, Spain, Psychology) took a deflected pass and put it away in the 69th minute.
Bastos, from Mario Navarro (Grad., Mira, Spain, Master’s of Sports Management), finished off the evening’s scoring in the 74th minute.
The seven goals are the most for WPU since an 8-0 win over Evangel in 2021.
“We are happy about the result today,” Assistant Coach Milton Magana said. “The guys stuck with the game plan, and we were able to come out with a win.”
“We are still looking to improve in certain areas, which will come as we keep working,” Magana added. “Right now, we are just trying to do everything we can to recover and prepare against a good opponent in Rocky Mountain.”
Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Sunday to host Rocky Mountain in non-conference play at 1 p.m.
