Late Goal Pushes Statesmen Over Park
Parkville, Mo.–The William Penn men’s soccer team earned another conference victory on Saturday as they took a 3-2 win over the Park Pirates.
The Statesmen improve to 7-6 overall, while their record in Heart of America Athletic Conference play moves to 3-4.
The navy and gold made their mark early, as it took Kenedy Deviska (Sr., Pignon, Haiti, Wellness and Recreation) only four minutes to find the back of the net. His fourth goal of the year gave William Penn the first lead of the game to make it 1-0. Aaron Keita (Jr., Monrovia, Liberia, Computer Science) earned the assist on the opening score.
The pressure continued to come for the hosts, as the Statesmen took three corner kicks before the Pirates were even able to get a shot off. Vincenzo Centrella (Jr., Rome, Italy) put a shot on goal, but it was deflected away to keep the lead at one.
The Pirates took over the offensive momentum, firing away their first three shots of the contest, but none of them presented a threat. The Statesmen took back control of the pitch, but could not add to their lead.
Finally, in the 41st minute Hugo Lorenzo (So., Madrid, Spain, Mechanical Engineering) broke through for a goal to double the William Penn lead. The goal for Lorenzo was his second of the season and sent the game to halftime with WPU holding a 2-0 lead.
After outshooting the Pirates 10-7 in the first half, the Statesmen opened up the second half with the same kind of offensive attack. After Park took the initial shot of the half, the navy and gold fired off the next four in a row, but none of them made it through the keeper.
Just past the 62nd minute, the Pirates were awarded a penalty kick, and they cashed in on the opportunity, cutting the lead in half. Only seven minutes later, the hosts struck again, evening the game at 2-2 heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
Gianmarco Centrella (Jr., Rome Italy, Sports Management), who had checked out of the game, headed back onto the pitch at the 73rd minute. It took him only five minutes to spark the offense, taking the deflection off his initial shot and driving it home for the lead. His third goal of the week gave the Statesmen the lead with less than 12 minutes to play, and the defense was up for the task. Although the Pirates were able to put two shots on goal, Harry Nash (Jr., Basingstoke, England, Sports Management) saved both of them on the way to closing out the victory.
Nash saw five shots on goal in the contest, earning saves on three of them. Centrella’s goal was his seventh on the season, and Keita tallied his third assist.
“We made hard work of today’s game being up 2-0 and letting them back into it with some poor defending,” said Head Coach Simon Brown. “In the end, we are happy to come away with the win, and go into the bye week on the back of two away wins.”
What’s Next: The Statesmen do find themselves on a bye week this week, and they will have a full week to prepare for another ranked opponent. The #17 MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers will visit Drost Field on Saturday, with kickoff scheduled for 4:30 PM.
