Baris with Two Goals as WPU Blows by #2 Mobile for Signature Win

Mobile, Ala.--If the Statesmen men's soccer team was hoping to show it deserved a seat at the proverbial national table by scheduling a top-notch foe, it did that and so much more with a 4-0 drubbing of #2 nationally-ranked Mobile Saturday.

William Penn (4-0-1), which is off to its best five-game start in school history, knocked off the two-time defending national runner-up Rams with a 17-13 advantage in shots (10-3 in shots on goal).

The visitors struck right away when a corner kick by Lukas Koch (Sr., Moers, Germany, Sports Management) was headed by Edan Sears (Jr., Telford, England, Sports Management) over to Rhys McAllister (Jr., Belfast, Northern Ireland) who put it away at the 2:13 mark.

Ten minutes later, Joan Torres (So., Canillo, Andorra, Sports Management) doubled the lead when he scored on a free kick.

The goals jolted the Rams (1-2) to life, but the navy and gold were successful in stopping every challenge to record their third shutout of the fall.  Mobile finished with 10 corners (three for WPU).

The second half was all about Emre Baris (Fr., Dortmund, Germany, Business Management) as he put an exclamation point on the victory with goals in the 56th and 60th minutes.  Timothy King (Jr., London, England, Biology) assisted on William Penn's final score of the night.

Sean Bohan (Jr., Dublin, Ireland, Business Management) managed three saves as he and the defense posted yet another clean sheet.  WPU's physicality likely played a role in the victory as the Statesmen were whistled for 30 fouls (13 for Mobile) and recorded five yellow cards (the Rams had two).

Baris concluded the upset with a team-high three shots, while four other Statesmen also achieved multiple attempts.

"We started off really well; that first goal helped settle us down," Head Coach Simon Brown said.  "They are very talented and answered with a lot of quality chances that fortunately did not succeed.  At halftime, we talked about breaking the game into small spells and we were successful in our approach."

"The final score is a bit flattering and not quite indicative of the actual game, but it really was a good performance from our guys," Brown added.  "It is really important for us to now recover over the next 36 hours before playing another great perennial power."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Hattiesburg, Miss. Monday to face William Carey at 3 p.m.