Deviska Scores Three More as Statesmen Sweep Aside Trojans
Hannibal, Mo. — Looking for more games, William Penn men’s soccer was able to add a match against Hannibal-LaGrange on Tuesday. The Trojans played spoiler last year in the match between the two schools, but the Statesmen were more clinical and thorough in 2021. The team fed leading scorer Kenedy Deviska (Jr., Pignon, Haiti, Wellness & Recreation), who put three goals away. Along with a penalty kick goal for each side, William Penn once more put its stamp on a good win with a final score of 4-1. The team is now 10-7 overall with one last game remaining before the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament.
With a look through the records, the opening tally for the navy and gold is the fastest goal scored, at least since 2001. The opening kick was passed all the way back to Luke Andrews (Jr., Andover, England), who fired it up the far touch line. Gathered by Edgar Tavares (Jr., Everett, Wash.), the winger flipped it over the central defender and right in the path of Deviska. The leading goal-scorer then calmly chipped it over the oncoming Trojan goalie to put the Statesmen up 1-0 after just 20 seconds of action. While older box scores are not as detailed, the ninth goal of the season for Deviska has a strong chance of being the fastest goal in program history.
The team continued to own possession despite the Trojans waking up and getting into the contest. A couple more opportunities were just missed by the Statesmen, with one prime opportunity coming off a shot from Lukas Koch (So., Moers, Germany, Sports Management), which was blocked by a sliding defender.
Twenty minutes into the contest and the Statesmen were awarded again with their solid play, as a run into the box created a foul and gave the team a penalty kick. Sagar Bhattarai (Jr., Columbus, Ohio) had to retry his kick after the first one was whistled off, but he still had the confidence to send the ball into the back of the net to put WPU up 2-0.
The roles were then reversed a few minutes later as Bhattarai went to his feet for a tackle just near the top of the box in the defensive end. The referee saw enough to call a foul and H-LGU shot the PK attempt past Rafael Martins (Jr., Boca Raton, Fla.) to make it 2-1.
William Penn had a golden chance to earn its third goal of the contest as a cross from the near side slipped through all the defenders and was put into the net, but a foul was called to cancel out the opportunity. Aaron Keita (Jr., Liberia, Africa) pushed a shot over the bar just short of the 35th minute as the Statesmen continued to get the better looks. Martins was challenged as time expired in the first half by a deep shot, but the attempt missed wide of the near post.
The Statesmen had seven shots and three on target in the first half, while limiting the Trojans to two total shots.
Coming out of the break, H-LGU made a push to draw level, throwing the first shot of the half high and generating a corner kick, though the Statesmen made the clearance. A couple offside calls kept WPU from getting a shot away, but the squad soon found the next score.
A foul on the Statesmen countered a corner kick, and the Trojan goalie set up and took the free kick. Keita leapt at midfield and connected with a sizzling header back the other way, once more into the path of Deviska. Driving in on goal, he made a cross-step to open up the goalie, shooting back across his body to hit the side netting on the near post, making it 3-1 in favor of the navy and gold.
Hugo Lorenzo (Fr., Madrid, Spain) then got a good look, but a defender flew in to block the effort. Milton Magana (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif.) had a shot rise too high as well as the team once more kept all momentum flowing towards the Trojan net.
Following that miss and closing in on 70 minutes played, Deviska got the hat trick goal, taking the ball and again blasting it into the back of the net. Hannibal-LaGrange had no more shots in the game and William Penn avenged its 2019 defeat to the school with a 4-1 victory.
The Statesmen had all the chances with 18 shots and seven going on goal. They held a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks and each team committed 12 fouls. Deviska was unstoppable, with four shots and three goals. Bhattarai also had three shots, as did Magana and Keita. Martins had a quiet day outside of the one penalty shot scored against him, as he did not have to make a save the rest of the contest.
“We had a good team performance against a very tricky side in Hannibal-LaGrange,” said Head Coach Simon Brown. “We started off electric, as Kenzie scored after 20 seconds, and continued to mount the pressure, which ultimately led us to grabbing the extra goals at the end. I’m excited for Kenzie to get his hat trick today, he is one of the best forwards in the conference and that will do a lot for his and the team’s confidence in front of goal. We look forward to another test this Saturday against Briar Cliff.”
Next Up: The next game will be huge in the rankings watch for William Penn and its quest to reach another NAIA National Tournament. The team will play in Sioux City against #17 Briar Cliff on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
