WPU Remains Undefeated with Shutout of Chargers
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen men’s soccer team delivered a commanding performance with a 4-0 victory over Briar Cliff in its final non-conference match Saturday.
#14 WPU (6-0-1) dominated by outshooting the Chargers 21-4, including an 11-2 edge in the opening 45 minutes.
The navy and gold broke through against Briar Cliff (1-5-1) in the 15th minute when Hugo Cornish (So., Sydney, Australia, Business Management) passed to Miguel Menendez (So., Oviedo, Spain, Wellness and Recreation), who fought through three defensemen to score.
Off a flick from Menendez, Sven Henneberg (Fr., Dortmund, Germany) doubled William Penn’s lead at the 29:59 mark.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Cornish delivered a pass to Albert Feixas (Fr., Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain, Exercise Science), who buried a header in the back of the goal to make it 3-0.
Just four minutes later, Cornish sealed the victory by blasting the ball into the net after it ricocheted off a Charger defender.
The Statesmen once again utilized most of their roster, putting 24 players on the pitch. Twelve of those individuals registered a shot.
Menendez led the offensive charge with four shots, while Cornish and Henneberg contributed three each. Connor O’Reilly (Sr., Letterkenny, Ireland, General Accounting) and Feixas both sent in two chances.
Sean Bohan (Sr., Dublin, Ireland, Business Management) earned a clean sheet in goal, his second in as many games since rejoining the squad following an injury.
“We are happy to finish off non-conference play with two strong wins against teams that went to the national tournament last year,” Head Coach Simon Brown said. “We had a goal to go 2-0 this weekend and mimic what a national tournament first and second round would look like. For the game itself, we started strong and had four different underclassmen score. Posting back-to-back clean sheets sets us up with confidence going into the tough Heart schedule.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Saturday to host Baker in its Heart of America Athletic Conference opener at 11 a.m.
