Two Own Goals Keep Statesmen Undefeated, Drop Friends 3-1
Two Own Goals Keep Statesmen Undefeated, Drop Friends 3-1
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s soccer team took advantage of a pair of mistakes by its foe as it stayed perfect with a 3-1 non-conference victory over Friends Saturday.
WPU (3-0), which has not been 3-0 since 2014 (third time in program history), outshot the Falcons 19-8, including a 7-3 mark in shots on goal. However, it was two kicks not on target that proved to be the difference in the matchup.
Three early shots by the hosts unfortunately did not result in any scoring. Unfortunately, Friends (0-2) was able to get one into the net on one of its first tries, breaking the scoreless tie at the 16:10 mark. The goal is the first allowed by the navy and gold this year, after posting shutouts against Governors State and Hastings.
WPU regrouped and again began to pressure the visitors. That pressure eventually landed some luck as an errant shot in the box by Strahinjia Camagic (Fr., Kraljevo, Serbia, Undecided) was redirected by a Falcon player and into their goal to knot the contest at the 39:42 juncture.
With the score still tied at 1-1 in the beginning moments of the second period, the Statesmen recorded their only non-own goal in the 58th minute. Lukas Koch (Sr., Moers, Germany, Sports Management) sent a long cross to the opposite post, where Joan Torres (So., Canillo, Andorra, Sports Management) kept it in play with a header back in front of the goal. Miguel Menendez (Fr., Oveido, Spain, Exercise Science and Kinesiology) was right where he needed to be and headed it in for the eventual game-winner in the 58th minute.
William Penn put the exclamation point on the win with another own goal at the 78:25 mark. Koch launched a terrific corner kick into the box. The service was untouched by several individuals, until a Friends player on the far side inadvertently knocked it into his goal.
Menendez guided the Statesmen offense with five shots, while Joseph Kitengie (Sr., Benoni, South Africa, Business Management) and Edan Sears (Jr., Telford, England, Sports Management) each tacked on four more.
Sean Bohan (Jr., Dublin, Ireland, Business Management) collected the victory with two saves between the pipes.
“We knew our team was going to be really tired with so much long distance travel, but we started off really well through the first 10 minutes,” Head Coach Simon Brown said. “Unfortunately, we let our foot off the gas and Friends caught us sleeping. We made some lineup changes and most importantly did not panic. We were also able to take advance of the wind in the second half.”
“It was really good to see us bounce back from being down as that was the first time we have trailed this year,” Brown added. “There is a real freshness about this group and I am happy we have so much new talent stepping up.”
Beginning with next Tuesday’s game at Morningside (12:30 p.m. start in Sioux City), the Statesmen will play six consecutive contests on the road.
“This will be a grueling month of away games, but there is a really good togetherness about this group,” Brown said. “I am excited to see what we can do.”
