Season in Review: Men’s Soccer Makes Nationals, Breaks Records

by Wade Steinlage

Oskaloosa–The 2019 William Penn men’s soccer season is one that will not soon be forgotten and one that is hopefully setting up the program for more success in the future.

With a final record of 15-5-1 (9-2 Heart), the Statesmen broke school records for wins and goals, and most importantly, qualified for the NAIA National Championship for the first time ever.

Coming off a 2018 campaign where the navy and gold destroyed the program record for victories with 14 and narrowly missed nationals, WPU was even better one year later.

William Penn opened up the season on August 24 with a solid 2-0 victory against former Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Avila. The squad then saw the other side of a 2-0 decision, falling to #19 Olivet Nazarene in its first road contest.

The up-and-down start to the fall then featured a 5-2 victory over Robert Morris, before a shocking 4-3 setback to Hannibal-LaGrange. The loss to the Trojans was a good one, though, as it ignited a fire under the Statesmen and they erupted for a six-game winning streak.

Featured in that streak were wins over receiving votes Benedictine (2-1 in double overtime) and a 3-1 triumph versus #9 Baker. The most memorable win arguably came on the road against rival Grand View on September 24. Down 3-1 at halftime, WPU scored two quick second-half goals and eventually came all the way back and won 6-5 in overtime on an unassisted Ethan Martinez goal with 49 seconds left in the first OT.

At 8-2 overall and 4-0 in league play, the 16th-ranked Statesmen then hosted the #1 team in the nation, Central Methodist. The defending national champions would not get an easy bout from William Penn as the home team took the early lead. The Eagles answered with two goals, but WPU knotted the contest midway through the second half, only to see CMU pull it out in the end.

William Penn bounced back with another six-game winning streak, but fell in its regular season finale to enter the Heart Tournament at 14-4. The second-seeded Statesmen were very hot (five first-half goals), but also very cold (three second-half goals allowed) in their quarterfinal matchup with MidAmerica Nazarene, but advanced through to the next round where they met #15 and third-seeded Grand View. The rematch unfortunately would not go the way of the navy and gold and they were denied a chance at Central Methodist in the finals.

The Statesmen then waited to hear about their postseason plans and were more than pleased to find out they not only qualified for nationals, but also earned the right to host an Opening Round tournament.

Hastings disposed of Friends in the opening contest on Friday, and on Saturday, November 23, history was made as WPU met the Broncos for the first national tournament match in program history.

William Penn played toe-to-toe with Hastings throughout with the teams in a scoreless tie after one half. Kenedy Deviska produced all of WPU’s offense, scoring twice in the final 45 minutes to match the Broncos’ offense and overtime ensued. Neither side scored in either of the two extra sessions and a shootout was required. Unfortunately, the Statesmen failed to come out on top, falling 4-1 in penalty kicks and seeing their season end short of a trip to California for the final site.

Eduardo Bonatto paced the squad with a school-record 17 goals (also set a record with 41 points), while Deviska also reached double figures with 12 scores. Austin Munoz led the defensive unit with a 13-4-1 record between the pipes. He allowed only 1.49 goals per game (70 saves) and posted three shutouts.

Accolades were numerous for the Statesmen with Bonatto leading a quartet of individuals on the all-Heart teams. Bonatto was a first-teamer, while Deviska, Luis Amezquita, and Bernado Lima were all second-team honorees. Bonatto was not done there, eventually garnering First-Team All-America laurels, becoming the first player in program history to reach the top squad.

The Statesmen learned winning can sometimes be troublesome as Head Coach Jaymee Highcock was able to parlay his success at WPU into a new position at an NCAA Division I school. The program should not see too much change, however, as Associate Head Coach Simon Brown has been promoted to lead the navy and gold.

“Last season was great for many reasons,” Brown said. “It gave the coaches, team, and university a taste of success that had never before been experienced. It is now our job to fuel the hunger for the returners and the 2020 recruiting class to push on and set new goals for the coming fall.”

Posted by on May 13 2020. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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