Statesmen Knocked Out in Opening Round by Pilots

Mishawaka, Ind.--The William Penn men's soccer team saw another strong campaign fall short of the final site as the Statesmen lost 3-1 to Bethel (Ind.) in the first round of the NAIA National Championship Opening Round Thursday.

The fourth-seeded Statesmen (11-7-3) were outshot just 12-9 (8-4 in shots on goal) by the top-seeded Pilots (20-1-1), but after qualifying for nationals for the fourth year in a row, the navy and gold were denied advancement past the Opening Round.

WPU tallied the first attempt of the contest and then had a couple of great looks in the 31st minute, including a shot from Joseph Kitengie (Sr., Benoni, South Africa, Business Management) that located the crossbar.

Still knotted in a scoreless tie with just four minutes left in the opening stanza, William Penn permitted a deep shot to get into the netting as it trailed 1-0 at intermission.

The visitors again managed to attack the goal first in the latter period, but on their second shot of the half, the Pilots doubled their advantage in the 61st minute.

A yellow card was then issued to William Penn in the box, giving the hosts a chance to extend their lead and they did so with a penalty kick score at the 79:08 mark.

Refusing to go quietly into the cold night (game-time temps were in the 30s with windchill below freezing), the Statesmen battled to the end with Milton Magana (So., Manchester, England, Business Management) scoring off an assist from Edan Sears (So., Telford, England, Sports Management) with 79 seconds remaining.

Mongan paced the offense with three shots, while Milton Magana (Sr., Los Angeles Calif., Sociology) added two more.  Harry Nash (Sr., Basingstoke, England, Sports Management) stopped four Bethel (Ind.) tries in the season-ending loss.

"We just did not get the luck we needed," Head Coach Simon Brown said.  "Thank you to our seniors who have helped keep this program at the top of the NAIA and conference the last few years."