William Penn Denied Upset of 20th-Ranked Ravens

William Penn University Athletics

by Wade Steinlage

Atchison, Kan.–The Statesmen men’s soccer team was en route to a big road upset Saturday, but a pair of late goals sunk the Statesmen in a 2-1 setback to #20 Benedictine in Heart of America Athletic Conference play.

WPU (4-3-1, 1-2 Heart) was every bit as good as the Ravens (6-2-1, 1-2 Heart), including being outshot just 9-7.

The sides played to a scoreless tie through the opening 45 minutes, and then early in the second stanza, the navy and gold earned the first break. Amgad Hassan (So., Falls Church, Va., Computer Science) drew a foul in BC’s box on a corner kick play, resulting in a penalty kick try. Hassan topped the Statesmen with two shots.

William Penn had entered the night perfect in PK attempts and Eduardo Bonatto (Fr., Rio Grande, Brazil, Business Management) kept the streak intact as he hammered home his try at the 51:15 mark; both of his goals this fall have come on penalty kicks.

The visitors remained on top for the next 20 minutes, but the Ravens scored on their own corner kick in the 72nd minute to tie the contest.

Unfortunately, the goal breathed new life into Benedictine and the home team used that momentum to record the eventual game-winner with just 4:02 left in regulation. The Statesmen could not come up with a reply and were saddled with a tough loss.

Guillermo Pineda (Fr., Madrid, Spain, Business Management & Communications) earned his first start in goal and was solid in his collegiate debut, finishing with three saves.

“This was possibly the best performance we have had this season,” Head Coach Jaymee Highcock said. “We stuck to the game plan and worked very hard. I did not believe we would lose, but a few lapses at the end cost us severely. We will take a lot of positives from this game and work hard to get ready for Clarke next Tuesday.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Dubuque next Tuesday to face Clarke in Heart action at 3:30 p.m.