Statesmen Drop Conference Finale 5-0

William Penn University Athletics

Des Moines–The William Penn men’s soccer team played fairly even with Grand View on the stat sheet, but the final score unfortunately did not reflect that as the Statesmen fell 5-0 in Midwest Collegiate Conference action Saturday night.

The Statesmen (7-10, 2-4 MCC) were outshot just 18-13, but failed to capitalize on their chances. On the other end, the Vikings (7-6-2, 4-0-2 MCC) locked up the regular season crown with the win. William Penn will now open the MCC Tournament next Sunday as the#6 seed and will travel to Davenport to face #3 St. Ambrose in the first round. The navy and gold knocked off the Fighting Bees 1-0 in Oskaloosa on October 6.

Grand View scored in the fourth minute and then added another goal in the first half to lead 2-0 at the break. Three more goals were tallied in the second stanza.

Victor Cruz (Jr., Elsa, Texas, Business Management) and Angelo Kelly (Fr., Ottumwa, Iowa, Physical Education) topped the offense with three shots each. Mason Bandy (So., Calgary, Alberta, Biology) saved six shot attempts, while Sam Gurski (Jr., Beaumont, Texas, Physical Education) recorded two saves in his season debut. Gurski, an honorable-mention all-MCC pick last year, has missed the entire fall with a leg injury that was suffered during preseason practice.

Next: William Penn closes out the regular season Tuesday by hosting Culver-Stockton (Mo.) in non-conference play at 7 p.m.