William Penn Blanks Doane in Season Opener
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa–Under new leadership, the Statesmen women’s soccer team recorded a huge win Saturday as it defeated non-conference foe Doane 5-0.
WPU (1-0) won its season opener for just the second time in the last 14 years and did so by the widest margin ever in a season opener (previous high was four). It is also the largest margin of victory for the navy and gold since dropping Evangel 7-1 in 2015.
Head Coach Jaymee Highcock’s squad wasted little time in asserting its dominance over the Tigers (0-1) as Alexandra Benedict (Jr., Tustin, Calif., Sports Management) punched a loose ball in the box towards Mariah Voight (Jr., La Mesa, Calif., Sociology/Psychology) who finished it off at the 5:09 mark.
Raunice Butler (Jr., Nassau, Bahamas, Physical Education) then doubled William Penn’s edge in the 25th minute with an unassisted score.
The Statesmen were not done with their first-half tallies as Lily Ocampo (So., Muscatine, Iowa, Biology) put the ball in the back netting at the 33:12 juncture; Benedict assisted on the goal.
Benedict wrapped up her impressive Statesmen debut with an unassisted score in the 51st minute. Lauren Carlson (Fr., Glendale, Ariz., Exercise Science) then put an exclamation point on the triumph by scoring off a pass from Ashley Broeker (Jr., Ankeny, Iowa, Exercise Science) just three minutes later.
William Penn, which managed a 23-4 advantage in shots (11-1 in the first half), kept Doane off the board the remainder of the afternoon as Andreya Ventura (Sr., Granada Hills, Calif., Psychology) and Riley Ludwig (Jr., Big Bear City, Calif., Psychology) combined for the shutout. Both keepers tallied two saves each.
“This was a big win for us and a great way to start the season,” Head Coach Jaymee Highcock said. “We played against a strong Doane team that will do well this season, and while we still have a lot to work on, this was a good performance for us.”
“The team trained hard and really bought into what we are trying to do,” Highcock added. “The ladies deserved the win for all the hard work they have done. A special thanks to the amazing crowd today. It was a fantastic day for William Penn soccer!”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Forest City next Tuesday to face Waldorf in non-conference action at 5 p.m.
