Markovic Scores Twice to Pace WPU Past Mount Mercy

William Penn University Athletics

William Penn University Athletics

Cedar Rapids–The Statesmen men’s soccer team remained in the mix to possibly earn a home playoff game as it defeated Mount Mercy 3-1 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Wednesday.

William Penn (7-8-2, 4-6-1 Heart), which won consecutive games for the first time since early September, overcame being outshot 22-18. The navy and gold can now claim a home game in the play-in round on November 3 with a win Saturday over Missouri Valley and a loss by Graceland to Culver-Stockton.

Wednesday was a two-man show on the offensive end and Joni Cruz (Sr., Salinas, Calif., Psychology) started the party right away by scoring unassisted just 35 seconds into the afternoon.

The Mustangs (8-8-1, 4-7 Heart) pulled even in the 22nd minute, but just 101 seconds later, Nenad Markovic (So., Belgrade, Serbia) gave the visitors the lead for good off a pass from Cruz.

The 2-1 advantage stood into the early minutes of the second period. Markovic then put his second goal (14th of the year) into the back netting at the 54:05 juncture. Joey Messina (Fr., New London, Wisconsin, Information Technology) assisted on the tally. Markovic’s 14 goals ties for third-most in program history and is the highest mark since Nik Rule also scored 14 goals in 2009.

Goalkeeper Caleb Pipes-Goulsbra (Jr., Lincoln, England, Exercise Science) kept MMU at bay, recording eight saves in the victory.

“This was a strong victory against a strong Mount Mercy team,” Head Coach Jaymee Highcock said. “We had some good practice sessions and worked very hard this week. Hopefully we can finish the regular season strong and take this positive momentum into the playoffs.”

Next Up: William Penn returns home Saturday for its regular season finale as it hosts Missouri Valley in Heart play at 7:30 p.m. The game will serve as Senior Night.

Posted by on Oct 27 2016. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed

         

Search Archive

Search by Date
Search by Category
Search with Google
Log in | Copyright by Oskaloosa News