William Penn Records Third-Straight Shutout
Oskaloosa–A pliable defense helped the Statesmen men’s soccer team hold off Benedictine 2-0 in a Heart of America Athletic Conference bout Tuesday.
WPU (6-3, 3-2 Heart), which has now posted three shutouts in a row, outshot the Ravens 20-6. The stats do not tell an accurate account of the contest, however, as both teams had multiple chances ton to score, but fortunately only the home team found the netting.
Hugo Lorenzo (Jr., Madrid, Spain, Industrial Technology) put William Penn ahead early as he found a center from Chanin Olandin (So., Oslo, Norway, Sports Management). After a slight touch by the Ravens, Lorenzo emerged from behind the Benedictine players to kick the ball home for a 1-0 advantage at the 10:30 mark. Milton Magana (Sr., Los Angeles Calif., Sociology) started the scoring play with a beautiful slot pass to Olandin.
The matchup went back-and-forth from there with both sides holding off the other’s challenges, until finally at the 85:17 mark, Maxime Eschemann (Fr., Saignelegier, Switzerland, Business Management) tracked down a long ball and before falling to the turf, was able to push a pass forward to Olandin. The sophomore then side-stepped a defender and launched a shot into the far-post netting.
Lorenzo, Olandin, and Magana all guided WPU with three shots each, while the trio of Shalon Knight (Sr., Swetes Village, Antigua and Barbuda, Digital Communication), Joaquin Gil (Sr., Valencia, Spain, Master’s of Sports Management), and Kemoi Williams (Sr., Bolands Village, Antigua and Barbuda, Sports Management) each managed two shots.
Matias Breit (Fr., Osorno, Chile, Psychology) was witness to plenty of action in front of his goal, but he actually only faced one shot on goal and saved it for this third shutout in as many collegiate starts.
“We are keeping the ball away from our goal and that has been huge for us to not give up many shots,” Head Coach Simon Brown said. “Everyone is contributing which is a big thing for our team.”
Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Saturday to host #6 Missouri Valley in Heart play at 1:30 p.m.
