Benitez’s Goal Gives Statesmen First Win of ‘15

William Penn University Athletics

East Chicago, Ind.–Facundo Benitez (Jr., Buenos Aires, Argentina, Business Management) scored right before halftime as the William Penn men’s soccer team avenged its season-ending loss from last year with a 1-0 win over Mount Mercy at the Calumet-St. Joseph Crimson Wave Invitational Saturday.

WPU (1-1) held off the Mustangs (0-2) in a game that featured just 12 shots (7-5 in favor of the victors).

Benitez broke the scoreless tie at the 43:29 mark by putting a pass from Angelo Kelly (Sr., Ottumwa, Iowa, Physical Education) into the back of the net. The junior paced all participants with three attempts.

Little love is lost in this former-MCC/future-Heart rivalry as the teams combined for nine yellow cards and three reds. William Penn played up one man for the final 25-plus minutes, but could not add an insurance goal with the advantage.

Max Stamer (Fr., Salzgitter, Germany, Secondary Education) and the defensive unit made it stand up as Stamer had one save for his first collegiate shutout.

New skipper Jaymee Highcock had plenty of praise for his team as he picked up the first win of his coaching career.

“This was a hard, physical victory for our men,” Head Coach Jaymee Highcock said. “We had strong performances from all the back line and the captains showed great leadership. It was a good win against a team that knocked us out of the postseason last year. Hopefully, we can have another strong performance tomorrow.”

The navy and gold will seek the tournament crown on Sunday against host CCSJ at 4:30 p.m.