Lady Leads Statesmen to Win Over Wartburg to Open 2021 Season
Waverly, Iowa — The second season of William Penn women’s lacrosse got underway with a contest against Wartburg Saturday. The Statesmen found the net early and often in the first half and continued to score in the second, doubling up the Knights 18-9. William Penn starts the campaign with a 1-0 record heading into its first-ever home game next Wednesday.
It took just 92 seconds for the Statesmen to score as Mia Arnone (Fr., St. Louis, Mo., Digital Communication) struck first to open her account on the year. Just 21 seconds later, Hallie Clark (Fr., Centerville, Utah) fired one home to put the navy and gold up 2-0.
Madison Reed (Fr., Shakopee, Minn., Secondary Education) finally had to do some work to do in goal as Wartburg got into the attacking zone. The hosts scored to make it 2-1, but the Statesmen got right back on the attack. Arnone scored to make it 3-1 and newcomer Emma Lady (Sr., Richmond, Ind., Masters of Sports Management) launched a laser into the net to tally her first goal as a Statesmen.
Wartburg made another push after that as it put in two-straight goals, but Lady notched her second of the day to keep WPU in front. The Knights then answered to pull within one again, but Clark took a feed from Arnone to make it 6-4. MacKenzie Petersen (Fr., Albertville, Minn., Public Accounting) then took advantage of another good pass from Arnone to make it 7-4. Arnone followed that up by scoring twice in a span of just 1:31 of game time to take the lead to 9-4 with Lady making the pass on the second strike to give Arnone a hat trick.
The defenses finally stood up for both sides, as no goals were scored in almost four minutes. Wartburg went a man-up and scored, pulling one goal closer with another tally just about two minutes later. But Lady was far from done, zipping in the hat-trick goal with 1:18 on the board. Despite the clock winding down, the Statesmen got the ball and entered the attacking zone with plenty of time left. With just about 10 seconds to go, Clark made a lovely pass that Lady caught and threw into the net to make it 11-6 with eight seconds to go.
The Statesmen took that five-goal lead into halftime, even though the stats were almost even between the two schools. WPU outshot the Knights 18-11 in the half, but each team collected 11 ground balls, controlled nine draws, and made six clearances, with the navy and gold going 6-for-6 on clearances in the half. Reed recorded three saves in the first 30 minutes, while Lady and Arnone each scored four times in the period.
The Statesmen picked up right where they had left off as Lady found the twine on a free-position shot. Arnone repeated that feat just over a minute later to put WPU up 13-6. Once more given a free position shot, Lady potted her sixth goal of the day to make the score 14-6 in favor of William Penn.
With just under 20 minutes to go, Wartburg scored to make it 14-7, but the Knights committed a foul at the other end that gave another open shot for Lady. The veteran knew what to do with the close-in opportunity, netting another goal to make it 15-7. Clark and Ashlyn Hoffman (Fr., Bend, Ore., Nursing) scored two minutes apart to make it 17-8 before the Knights scored once more with 11:27 to go.
The final goal was finished off by Lady with Clark collecting the assist. The final 10 minutes were scoreless and William Penn clinched its first win of the year in commanding fashion.
The team outshot Wartburg 32-22. Both teams picked up 21 ground balls, but the Knights won 16 draws compared to 13 controls for the Statesmen. WPU was 17-for-20 on successful clearances in the game. Both teams scored once with the extra-man, but the navy and gold were 4-4 from free-position opportunities.
Reed made nine saves in the game as the team provided her with a strong defensive effort. A successful attack also helped out the defensive players as Lady paced the team with eight goals. She put all of her nine shots on target, picked up four ground balls, and won four draws. Arnone had five goals and three assists, with five of her six shots finding the frame. She also picked up four ground balls. Clark had three assists and three goals, hitting the goal with four of her eight shots. Hoffman and Petersen each had one goal on three shots, while Petersen won three draws on the day.
“I am incredibly proud of how the girls played today to get their first win of the season,” said Head Coach Corrine Smeak. “They came out with energy and worked together as a team for the entire 60 minutes. I am excited to see what this season holds for them and what else they will accomplish.”
Next Up: The Statesmen will take on St. Ambrose (RV) next Wednesday at Statesmen Community Stadium with the game scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
