Statesmen Fall 1-0 to Columbia

William Penn University Athletics

Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s soccer team kept its powerhouse opponent within striking distance throughout the afternoon Tuesday, but could not come away with the upset in a 1-0 non-conference loss to Columbia (Mo.).

On a hot and windy day, the Statesmen (2-2) failed to produce much offense in either period. They did, however, also limit the Cougars (2-0-1) to few strong opportunities themselves. The visitors owned a 36-4 tally in shots, including a 21-2 mark in the first half, but were kept off the scoreboard going into intermission.

Columbia, the defending America Midwest Conference regular season and tournament champion, finally broke the scoreless tie at the 52:03 juncture. The lone goal would stand up, despite a wonderful chance by Alyce Correia (Sr., Perth, Australia, Elementary Education) in the waning minutes that was cleared at the last second by a CC defender before crossing the goal line.

Vanessa Martinez (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Communications) posted two shots, while Adriana Borjon (Sr., Willits, Calif., Exercise Science) stopped 15 shots between the pipes.

“I am really pleased with our performance today against a very good team,” Head Coach Willie McGowan said. “We showed today that we can handle adversity and compete despite the hurdles we had to overcome due to late injuries.”

“We gave a very good account of ourselves and fought hard throughout,” McGowan added. “We will see where we are in the next few days and who can be available to play in Saturday’s game.”

“I thought our defense did a good job of not providing too many open chances,” McGowan said. “Even on the shots that did come through, Adriana did a great job of coming up with the save.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Hannibal, Mo. Saturday to face Hannibal-LaGrange in non-conference action at 2 p.m.