Statesmen Lose to Robert Morris
William Penn Women’s Soccer suffered a tough loss to Robert Morris.
Oskaloosa – The William Penn Women’s soccer team entered Saturday’s game looking to get back into the win column against Robert Morris (Ill.). Despite a late goal in the first half to bring them closer to the Eagles, the Statesmen could not hold defensively in the second half. A flurry of goals handed WPU a 6-1 loss and the team now has an overall record of 2-2.
The team kept pace with the Eagles for the first 10 minutes or so but then the danger mounted. The backline made numerous plays to keep shots away from starting goalie Riley Ludwig (Sr., Big Bear, Calif., Psychology) but by the 25th minute, it was 2-0 Robert Morris. Once again, the blue and gold responded well to adversity. They had 10 shots in the first half and two corner kicks compared to four shots and one corner kick for Robert Morris. Kaitlin Falaney (Fr., Ottawa, Ill., Sports Management) made her season debut and worked hard up front trying to generate offense. Anna Matthew (So., Glendale Heights, Ill.) and Isabella Davies (Fr., Gold Coast, Australia) joined her in the attack and the trio had some bright moments of forward play. Lillyan Kuga-Fountain (So. Thornton, Colo., Psychology) scored perhaps the best goal of the season so far for the Statesmen. Seeing the keeper slightly distracted, she launched a shot on goal from just across the midfield line. The Eagles keeper could not reach high enough to save it and the ball bounced into the top right corner of the net. Cutting the lead to 2-1, the momentum seemed to favor the home side.
However, once again, the second half proved to be the more problematic 45 minutes. The Eagles scored three times in five minutes, controlled the majority of the play, took double the shots of WPU, and had more corner kicks. The Statesmen managed six shots on goal and forced five saves from the Robert Morris goalie, but no more goals could be found.
“Once again, we showed that soccer is a game of two halves,” said head coach Jaymee Highcock. “In the first half we played some really good soccer, despite the score line. We managed to get a goal back late in the first half and that changed the momentum of the game. However, individual mistakes and lapses of concentration cost the team dearly in the second half and we never managed to recover. We look forward to getting on the training pitch to prepare for the Hannibal La Grange game on Tuesday.”
Up Next: The team has a short recovery as they make a road trip south Tuesday to take on Hannibal La Grange, with the game scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.
