Late Goal Helps WPU Top Hannibal-LaGrange 1-0
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s soccer team took advantage of some unplanned home cooking to take down Hannibal-LaGrange 1-0 in non-conference action Saturday.
The matchup was originally scheduled to be played in Missouri, but all fields in Hannibal were unplayable due to the heavy rain the area received this week. Still desiring to play, the schools agreed to move the game to Oskaloosa where the Statesmen’s practice field was in good enough shape to hold the contest.
WPU (3-1) outshot the Trojans (0-4) by a 14-5 tally, but came up short in its first 13 tries, including missing open goals as well as catching a crossbar.
With overtime looming, the hosts finally broke the scoreless tie as a long throw-in from Donny Mesina (Jr., Inglewood, Calif., Sports Management) reached the box. Dobbe Weverink (Grad., Amstelveen, Netherlands, Master’s of Business Leadership) then kept the ball in front of the goal via a header. The ball came to the chest of Victor Hernandez (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif., Exercise Science) and he one-touched it into the netting for the lone goal of the day with 2:27 to play.
It is Hernandez’s first goal in the navy and gold.
Miguel Barbosa (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sport Management) recorded two saves to collect the shutout, his second of the year.
Eduardo Bonatto (So., Rio Grande, Brazil, Business Management) led William Penn with five shots, while Hernandez and Shalon Knight (Fr., Swetes Village, Antigua), in his Statesmen debut, both posted three attempts apiece.
“This was a good win for us against a historically very good NAIA program,” Head Coach Jaymee Highcock said. “We tried a few new variations in our attack and let our horses run freely. Our end product was not great, but we did more than enough to win. We will now look forward to working hard this week in preparation for St. Ambrose.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Davenport next Wednesday to face St. Ambrose in a non-conference game at 5 p.m.
