Statesmen Fall as Padilla Scores Again
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Sioux City–Savannah Padilla (Fr., Mesa, Ariz., Sociology) found the back of the net once again, but it was not enough to lift the William Penn women’s soccer squad in a 2-1 loss to Briar Cliff in non-conference play Wednesday.
Padilla, who had four shots on the day, gave the navy and gold its first lead of 2013 with a goal at the 19:51 juncture. It was her second goal of the year. Kirsty Fraser (Sr., Perth, Australia, Elementary Education) passed the ball to her freshman teammate for her first assist of the fall.
The Statesmen matched the Chargers 14-14 in shots, but 11 of BCU’s attempts came in the second half as the home team battled back with goals in the 58th and 69th minutes to rally for the victory.
Kami Paulsen (Jr., Bondurant, Iowa, Communications) matched Padilla with four shots, while
Brenay Fonseca (Jr., San Bernardino, Calif., Physical Education) and Laura Gentry (Sr., Fruitland, Idaho, Physical Education) shared time between the pipes. Fonseca had one save in a quiet first half, while Gentry took the loss in allowing two goals against four saves.
“I cannot thank the girls enough for the heart and determination on such a suffocating and energy-draining day,” Head Coach Willie McGowan said. “The heat on the field was incredible and asking these girls to compete in that environment was a very hard thing to do.”
“We showed today we have improved a great deal and simply ran out of gas at the end,” McGowan added. “Being such a hot day, we really tried to get everyone some playing time to keep us fresh. Unfortunately, that was not enough as Haley Wark (Fr., Surrey, B.C., Communications) sat the second half due to the heat, which hurt us a little defensively.”
“We will take a lot of positives from this game as well, but we also got to see what we need to work on,” McGowan said. “It is a process and hopefully the first win is just around the corner.”
Next: William Penn travels to Ottawa, Kan. Saturday to face the Ottawa in a non-conference contest at 4 p.m.
