William Penn Shuts Out Mustangs on Senior Night
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen women’s soccer team stepped up for its veterans Tuesday as William Penn defeated Mount Mercy 3-0 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.
WPU (5-9, 3-6 Heart), which honored its eight-member senior class on Senior Night, recorded its second shutout of the fall and first in league play. The program’s last Heart shutout also came against Mount Mercy last year.
The navy and gold held a 24-9 advantage in shots over the Mustangs (2-9-1, 0-8-1 Heart), including a 12-4 margin in shots on goal.
The first 45 minutes were fairly balanced, at least in the box score with the hosts owning a slight 9-7 edge in attempts. Fortunately, the squad’s last try before intermission was its best.
Inside of two minutes remaining, Piper-Rae Davis (Fr., Dorr, Mich., Psychology and Sociology) collected a loose ball and flicked it forward. Iris Navarro (Jr., Ontario, Calif., Biology) then chased it down and just outside the penalty box she popped a shot over the head of the MMU keeper. The sophomore now leads the Statesmen with six goals this season, while Davis’ assist is her second.
The margin remained a single goal 12 minutes into the second stanza, but with help from the visitors, the Statesmen doubled their edge. Navarro ran down another ball, this one from Anai Hernandez (Sr., Phoenix, Ariz., Biology). She then centered it towards the goal in hopes of connecting with Taylor Witthauer (So., Vancouver, Wash., Nursing). The pass was a step ahead of the intended target, however, but the desired result was the same. The Mustang player who was defending Witthauer got to it first, but fortunately for the hosts, instead of clearing the ball to the end line, she deposited it into the netting for an own goal and a 2-0 WPU lead.
The navy and gold cruised from there, eventually putting the game on ice with 8:13 to go. Danielle Gundling (So., Huntington Beach, Calif., Elementary Education), the team’s backup goalkeeper who has earned minutes as a field player lately, launched a pass into the box. Davis, who was on the receiving end, then leapt and headed the ball over the keeper to cap the night’s scoring.
The goal is Davis’ fourth of the season, while the assist is the first for Gundling in her WPU career.
William Penn’s 24 shots were spread around with eight players tallying at least two tries. Katja Bierman (So., Alkmaar, The Netherlands, Digital Communication) led the defensive effort, posting four saves to earn her first shutout of 2021.
“I am very happy for our seniors that they got to ring the victory bell on Senior Night,” Head Coach Andy Commins said. “This was our most complete game of the season and our seniors brought a great energy tonight.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Baldwin City, Kan. Saturday to face Baker in Heart play at 5 p.m.
