Statesmen Drop Opener in Nebraska
William Penn University Athletics
Papillion, Neb. — The William Penn men’s soccer team opened up their season with an away trip to face the Bruins of Bellevue. A heavy weight that beat Central Methodist last year, the Statesmen entered knowing they were up against a quality foe. Despite some good passages of play, WPU went down early and could not respond in kind, eventually taking a 5-1 defeat.
The navy and gold started the day with the first shot of the game as Jaime Arcilla (Jr., Cartagena, Colombia) put an attempt wide of the net. Pressure started to mount as the Bruins came back the other way, the home side taking the next group of shots. Jernya Oscar (So., St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda) made two saves in the first eight minutes before a deep chip shot found its way past his outstretched arms.
Down 1-0, the Statesmen responded with the next shot as again Arcilla just missed the target. Unfortunately, Bellevue scored two minutes later to increase their advantage. Kenedy Deviska (Jr., Pignon, Haiti) and Luke Andrews (Jr., Andover, England) got William Penn a shot on target each, but keeper Harry Wray made the stops. With 24 minutes on the clock, the Bruins slotted in their third goal off a long cross. Three minutes later, it was 4-0 from a rebound off the post. A couple of shots to end the half for the Statesmen amounted to zero goals at intermission.
A quick flurry saw Bellevue score a goal at each end to start the second half. After scoring on Oscar, they then headed in an own goal to give the Statesmen their lone score of the night. At 5-1, there was still some time left for the navy and gold to close the gap.
Deviska fired away a couple more shots towards the net while Korby Ring (So., Independence, Mo.) and Shalon Knight (Jr., Swetes Village, Antigua and Barbuda) each took one. Despite some pressure from WPU, the Bruins could sit deep and absorb the attacks, letting the clock tick away. The horn sounded with no more goals for William Penn in the match.
Deviska led the team with two shots, one on target while Arcilla had two shots to his name. Meanwhile, Oscar made four saves on nine shots on target. William Penn collected five shots on goal in total.
“The boys got an eye-opener today of the level and intensity needed,” said coach Simon Brown. “We didn’t win the physical battle and that hindered any chance we had to compete in the game. In my opinion, the team needed something like this to happen to knock us back down, so we can get back to doing what we do best and imposing ourselves on games. We look forward to another challenge against Monringside on Saturday.”
Next Game: Another top end opponent will start the home games at Drost Field as Morningside arrives on Sep. 12, at 3:00 p.m.
