WPU Over .500 with 3-0 Pounding of Dakota Wesleyan

William Penn Women’s Athletics

Mitchell, S.D.–A balanced attack lifted the Statesmen women’s soccer team to a place it has not been in nearly a decade after defeating Dakota Wesleyan 3-0 in non-conference play Sunday.

William Penn (5-4), which owns a winning record this deep into the season for the first since 2005, outshot the Tigers 24-5.

The shot tally finally paid off for the visitors at the 38:35 point when Emmanuela Meneide (Sr., Turks and Caicos, Biology) scored off a pass from Kami Paulsen (Jr., Bondurant, Iowa, Communications). Meneide now has five goals this fall.

Alyce Correia (Fr., Perth, Australia, Elementary Education) scored unassisted in the 59th minute for her fifth goal, while Kelly Button (Jr, Tucson, Ariz., Business Management) notched her second score of 2013 at the 77:38 mark. The assist was credited to Jaymie Padilla (Jr., Mesa, Ariz., Physical Education).

“This was another solid performance from our team,” Head Coach Willie McGowan said. “DWU did not make it easy, but we responded well to what they threw at us. Our defense is starting to gel a little more with each game, as is our central midfield area, which makes us tougher to break down than back at the start of the season.”

“Our attacking unit did well to keep setting up chances and we were able to take advantage of a couple of them today,” McGowan added. “We are all very happy that we are starting to see some positive things happening in the program. Hopefully, this can give us more confidence heading into the second half of the season and conference play.”

Next: William Penn is off this week, returning to action with a home contest on September 24 against Missouri Valley at 4 p.m.