William Penn Athletics News–October 15
William Penn University Athletics
Parra’s Goal Helps WPU Knock AIB from MCC Unbeaten Ranks
Des Moines–The Statesmen women’s soccer team made a big statement Wednesday with a 1-0 road victory over AIB in Midwest Collegiate Conference action.
William Penn (5-6-3, 2-1-1 MCC) only came up with eight shot attempts (14 for the Eagles), including just two on goal, but a try by Camila Parra (Fr., Brisbane, Australia, Biology) at the 56:12 mark struck gold and that was all the visiting squad needed.
Parra now has a team-high six goals this fall, while the assist was the fourth of the year for Alyce Correia (So., Perth, Australia, Elementary Education).
AIB (9-6-1, 3-1 MCC), which lost for the first time in league play, had four shots stopped by WPU goalkeeper Kelly Button (Sr., Tucson, Ariz., Business Management). The senior’s shutout is her fifth, which ties for fifth on the program’s single-season list.
Silvia Munoz (Jr., Paramount, Calif., Elementary Education) guided the navy and gold with three shots.
“I cannot say enough about this team’s heart and effort,” Head Coach Willie McGowan said. “We went up against a very tough AIB team who was undefeated in conference and managed to put in a full 90 minutes to get a fantastic result.”
“We had a number of players step up and play well and we did a great job of working together,” McGowan added. “We have put ourselves in a good position with our conference play and now have to build on these results to end the season well.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Saturday to host St. Ambrose in MCC play at 2 p.m.
Statesmen Tie AIB 1-1
Des Moines–The William Penn men’s soccer team outplayed AIB in several facets, but in the end had to settle for a 1-1 draw in Midwest Collegiate Conference action Wednesday.
The Statesmen (7-6-1, 2-1-1 MCC) outshot AIB (3-9-1, 0-3-1 MCC) 21-11, including 7-1 in overtime, but claimed its first tie of the year as only one of those attempts found the netting.
Actually through a little more than one half of play, both sides were having scoring issues. The Eagles finally broke through at the 51:24 mark, but Angelo Kelly (Jr., Ottumwa, Iowa, Physical Education) knotted the contest at 1-1 by finishing off a pass from Facundo Benitez (So., Buenos Aires, Argentina, Business Management).
Kelly now has two goals in 2014, while Benitez’s helper is his first.
Unfortunately, the visitors were negated the rest of the way, but they also stomped out any other AIB opportunities to net the draw.
Kelly and Sergio Carro (Jr., London, England, Communications) headlined the offense with five shots each, while goalkeeper Pedro Pereira (So., Sao Paolo, Brazil, Communications) tallied four saves.
“Overall, this was a solid performance from front to back,” Head Coach Raphael Martinez said. “Finishing our chances has been a struggle all season and it continued tonight. We created countless chances, but just could not put them away. We have to give credit to their goalkeeper who had several saves, including a fantastic one in overtime.”
“To go on the road and be disappointed about leaving with one point shows the attitude of this team,” Martinez added. “We will begin to prepare for a very good St. Ambrose team immediately. It will not be an easy game and the guys understand that we must roll up our sleeves and be ready to battle.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Saturday to host St. Ambrose in MCC play at 4 p.m.
