Statesmen Advance in Heart Championship with Shootout Win
Oskaloosa–Sean Bohan’s (Sr., Dublin, Ireland, Business Management) two crucial saves in a penalty shootout sealed a thrilling victory over #7 seed Mount Mercy in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Quarterfinals Wednesday.
The second-seeded Statemen (14-2-3), currently ranked a program-best #5, was tied 2-2 with the Mustangs (7-6-3) after 110 minutes of regulation and overtime. In the shootout, the hosts won 3-1 to advance to face #3 seed Clarke Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Heart Championship Semifinals.
WPU, which dominated offensively by outshooting Mount Mercy 21-9, got on the board quickly when John-Joe Mullane (Jr., Kent, England, Sports Management) flicked the opening goal into the net off passes from Edan Sears (Sr., Telford, England, Sports Management) and Hugo Cornish (So., Sydney, Australia) at the 8:36 mark.
Despite recording seven shots in the first half, the Statesmen could not extend their lead. The Mustangs unfortunately finally found their equalizer off a penalty kick at the 72:09 mark.
The home squad took back the lead 12 minutes later when a Connor O’Reilly’s (Jr., Letterkenny, Ireland, General Accounting) throw-in found Matias Meijede (Grad., Brunete, Spain, Master’s of Organizational Leadership), who headed it back to Miguel Menendez (So., Oviedo, Spain, Wellness and Recreation). Menendez, who found himself horizontal on the ground, connected with the ball and put it past the goalkeeper in the 85th minute.
Playing to keep its season alive, Mount Mercy responded quickly, however, capitalizing less than two minutes later on a deflected save from Bohan to level the score again and pushed the game into sudden-death overtime.
Both teams traded chances with William Penn edging Mount Mercy 2-1 in shots during the first overtime. Bohan saved Mount Mercy’s only attempt in the second overtime, and after a scoreless 20 extra minutes, the matchup advanced to a penalty shootout.
In the decisive shootout, William Penn prevailed with clutch performances. Cornish set the tone by scoring on the opening attempt, followed by O’Reilly, who also found the net. Mount Mercy’s first two strikers missed their shots, with the first saved by Bohan and the second flying over the crossbar.
Although Menendez missed on William Penn’s third attempt and the Mustangs found the net in their third shot. Albert Feixas (Fr., Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain, Exercise Science) then put the Statesmen on the precipice of a triumph, and Bohan secured it as Mount Mercy’s final shooter was also stopped by the senior.
Eight Statesmen registered a shot, with Menendez leading the charge with seven attempts. Mullane tallied four strikes, while Cornish and Meijede added three and two, respectively.
Bohan held firm in goal, recording three saves in regulation and two more critical stops in the shootout.
“It was a brilliant win,” said Goalkeeper Sean Bohan. “We are one step closer to the trophy and we can build on that.”
“We started off the game fairly well, but Mount Mercy came to defend the ball,” said Head Coach Simon Brown. “Sean is one the best goalkeepers in the country. We deserved to win the game.”
