Statesmen Claim 1-0 Homecoming Victory

Oskaloosa--The William Penn men's soccer team scored just enough to put another tally in the win column as it defeated Culver-Stockton 1-0 on Homecoming in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Saturday.

#17 WPU (10-2-4, 5-1-3 Heart) outshot the Wildcats 24-3 (11-2 shots on goal), but only scored once as it kept C-SC (2-8-5, 0-8-1 Heart) winless in league play.

The hosts played into the wind in the first half, but still managed 13 attempts.  The day's initial try came from the navy and gold, but the first two shots on target were produced by the Wildcats with Sean Bohan (Jr., Dublin, Ireland, Business Management) stopping both for his only two saves of the afternoon.

William Penn then took over, posting 12 unanswered shots in the first half, including seven on goal, but unfortunately none got past the Culver-Stockton goalkeeper.

It was not until midway through the second period when the Statesmen finally broke through.  Conor Keylock (So., Johannesburg, South Africa, Sports Management) opened the scoring sequence by winning the ball off a C-SC throw-in and heading it to Miguel Menendez (Fr., Oveido, Spain, Wellness and Recreation).

Menendez then dribbled forward before starting a give-and-go play, dishing the ball off to Mattijs McLaughlin (Fr., Sassenheim, Netherlands, Business Management) who gave it right back to Menendez.  Mendendez then made a small move to his right before firing a bullet into the netting at the 62:22 mark for the lone goal of the matchup.

The Statesmen possessed the ball for a large chunk of the game's remaining minutes as WPU finished with a 6-0-1 home record for the regular season.

Hugo Cornish (Fr., Sydney, Australia, Business Management) headlined the offensive effort with five shots, while Menendez was next with four attempts.  Luigi Mongan (Jr., Manchester, England, Business Management) added three shots, and three more Statesmen finished with two.

"We are happy to get an important win and clean sheet on Senior Day and Homecoming," Head Coach Simon Brown said.  "We need to bring this winning mentality into our last two conference games."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines Tuesday to face Grand View in Heart play at 7:30 p.m.