Statesmen to Face Grace (Ind.) in Opening Round
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s soccer team is heading east as it earned a spot for the seventh year in a row to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
WPU (10-5-4), which earned an at-large bid, will receive a bye in the first round. As the No. 18 overall seed (technically unseeded), the Statesmen will travel to Winona Lake, Ind. next Saturday, November 22 to meet No. 15 seed Grace (Ind.) in the second round at 5 p.m. (Central). The Lancers, out of the Crossroads League, are 13-5-3 overall.
The NAIA’s top eight overall seeds will host three-team brackets (games on Thursday and Saturday), while Seeds 9-16 host a single contest on Saturday. The 16 bracket winners will then advance to the Final Site in Orange Beach, Ala. from December 1-8.
Live stats will be available for free at http://www.statesmenathletics.com/sports/msoc/2025-26/boxscores/20251122_uln1.xml, while Grace’s live stream will be a pay-per-view event at https://gclancers.com/sports/2020/8/4/grace-college-livestream.aspx
Tickets can only be purchased online at https://gofan.co/app/school/IN87843
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools in men’s soccer.
William Penn
Joe Minton is in his first season as head coach at William Penn. WPU is one of four representatives from the Heart in the 40-team nationals field. The Statesmen, who are making their seventh nationals appearance, are 6-6 all-time at nationals, highlighted by a run to the title game last fall.
The navy and gold are led by five all-Heart performers, including first-teamer Matias Meijide (Grad., Brunete, Spain, Master’s of Organizational Leadership).
Albert Feixas (So., Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain, Exercise Science) tops his team with 17 points (8 goals, 1 assist), while Ryan Walsh-Rowe (Wexford, Ireland, Business Management) has a 1.29 Goals Against Average.
The Statesmen have outscored their foes 32-23 and have posted six shutouts this fall.
After dropping its first game of the season, William Penn did not lose over the span of 10 contests (7-0-3). WPU has had two winning streaks of at least three games (high of four).
The Statesmen are 2-3-1 against teams who have qualified for nationals.
Grace
Arron Patrick, who is in his seventh season as head coach at Grace, owns a current record of 81-48-19. The Lancers are making their sixth trip to nationals (fourth in the last six seasons).
GC, which also earned an at-large berth, had four first-team all-conference honorees (six total). Luis Munoz was chosen at the league’s Midfielder and Newcomer of the Year; he leads the team with 26 points (9 goals, 8 assists).
The Lancers have outscored their opposition 39-18, and reached the CL’s championship game.
Grace posted a seven-game winning streak earlier in the campaign.
