Statesmen Dominate Second Half, Overtime to Rally for Win
William Penn University Athletics
Kansas City, Mo.–The William Penn men’s soccer team almost gave one away Saturday, but eventually overcame some early miscues to defeat now non-conference foe Avila 3-2 in overtime.
WPU (2-1) outshot the Eagles (0-3) by a 27-11 tally, including 9-7 before intermission, but somehow faced a 2-0 deficit against the former Heart of America Athletic Conference school after just 30 minutes of action.
The navy and gold got a proverbial shot in the arm right before break, though, as Piero Aguirre (Fr., Ica, Peru, Biology) put away a pass from Eduardo Bonatto (So., Rio Grande, Brazil, Business Management) in the 42nd minute to cut the AU lead in half. The goal is Aguirre’s first of his collegiate career.
Bonatto then took over, scoring unassisted at the 57:42 mark. The visitors owned a 14-3 tally in shots in the latter period, but could not record the game-winner in regulation and were forced to play another session.
Then, just as the women’s team had earlier in the day, the Statesmen men finished off their comeback from two goals down as Bonatto produced another unassisted goal with 3:18 left in overtime. Bonatto’s goals are his first and second of 2018.
Although he did not score, Donny Mesina (Jr., Inglewood, Calif., Sports Management) made his presence felt with a team-best six shots. A total of eight WPU players had at least two shots Saturday.
Miguel Barbosa (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sport Management) was fairly untested in the victory, recording two saves, both in the first half.
“We started slowly with two of our own mistakes costing us both goals,” Head Coach Jaymee Highcock said. “After giving up the two scores, we were in full control and could have probably won in regulation. Avila is much improved and this was a good road win for us. We will now move on and get ready for a tough game at Hannibal-LaGrange.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Hannibal, Mo. next Saturday to face Hannibal-LaGrange in non-conference action at 4 p.m.
