Statesmen Rally for Fourth-Straight Win
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Yankton, S.D.–A strong second half propelled the William Penn women’s soccer team to .500 for the first time in almost four years with a 4-2 win over Mount Marty Friday.
The Statesmen (4-4), who dominated the shots category 28-7, broke through at the 12:55 mark when Kami Paulsen (Jr., Bondurant, Iowa, Communications) scored off a pass from Haley Wark (Fr., Surrey, B.C., Communications).
Unfortunately, the Lancers (0-5-1) responded with goals in the 25th and 35th minutes and led 2-1 at the break.
Paulsen then knotted the contest at 49:49 with the assist credited to Brenay Fonseca (Jr., San Bernardino, Calif., Physical Education. The junior now has two goals this fall.
Kate Thayer (So., East Fremantle, Australia, Physical Education) gave WPU its first lead of the second stanza with an unassisted score at 67:32, and just 1:11 later Emmanuela Meneide (Sr., Turks and Caicos, Biology) put the game out of reach with another unassisted goal. Thayer’s goal is her first of the year, while Meneide is now tied for the squad lead in goals with four.
The win moves the Statesmen to .500 for the first time since September 30, 2009 when they were 4-4-1.
Laura Gentry (Sr., Fruitland, Idaho, Physical Education) tallied three saves in the win.
“We made things difficult for ourselves by going down 2-1 at the half by not playing with much energy or taking care of the ball,” Head Coach Willie McGowan said. “We made a number of poor decisions and we allowed Mt. Marty to dictate what we did.”
“The second half was more like what we have done the previous few games and we came out with more purpose and energy,” McGowan added. “We showed a lot of character and heart to change things around like we did.”
Next: William Penn travels to Mitchell, S.D. Sunday to face Dakota Wesleyan in non-conference play at 1 p.m.
