William Penn Falls to Grand View in League Semis
William Penn University Athletics
Des Moines–The Statesmen men’s soccer team played even with the best team in the NAIA for just over one half of Sunday’s Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Semifinal matchup, but competing one player down eventually caught up to the navy and gold in a 7-1 loss to #1 Grand View.
With the setback, fifth-seeded William Penn ends its 2013 campaign at 10-8-2. It is just the third winning season in program history and the first since 2003.
The Statesmen gave the Vikings (17-2) all they could handle in the early going, being outshot just 7-2 in a scoreless first half.
Unfortunately, yellow cards given to Facundo Manzanares (Fr., Cordoba, Argentina, Business Management) in the 29th and 35th minute (a second yellow is an ejection) dropped WPU to just ten individuals on the pitch.
Grand View finally took advantage of having an extra man at the 49:31 mark. That opened the floodgates with four more scores being tallied before the visitors broke through.
William Penn was awarded a penalty kick at 81:22, and Mark Dryden (Sr., Arbroath, Scotland, Biology), playing in his final collegiate contest, found the back of the net to make it 5-1. The goal was Dryden’s second of the fall. He and Francis Koroma (Fr., Brooklyn Park, Minn., General Accounting) notched two shots each as the Statesmen were outshot 23-7.
The tournament’s top seed, which will face #3 seed St. Ambrose in Thursday’s championship game, added two more goals late.
“Today’s result is a difficult one to swallow,” Head Coach Raphael Martinez said. “I give credit to Grand View; they are #1 in the nation for a reason. We stayed organized defensively in the first half, but the red card really hurt us as the game went on.”
“This was a very successful season,” Martinez added. “To have a winning season for the first time in a decade shows that the program is moving in the right direction.”
Dryden was joined by fellow seniors Luis Islas (Boise, Idaho, History/Government), Brendan Johnson (Clinton, Iowa, Physical Education), and Leonardo Teixeira (Sao Paolo, Brazil, Business Management) in closing their collegiate careers Sunday.
“I want to thank our seniors for their constant dedication and hard work throughout the year,” Martinez said. “They will truly be missed. With that said, I am excited to see what next year will bring. With a good offseason and some quality recruits, I believe things can only go up from here.”
