Coach Brown Sets Record for Wins as William Penn Beats Clarke

Oskaloosa--The Statesmen men's soccer team secured a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Clarke in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Tuesday, marking an historic achievement for Head Coach Simon Brown, who now holds the title of the winningest men's soccer coach with 56 career wins.

Brown is currently 56-29-8 (.619 winning pct.) in five seasons as the head coach of the Statesmen.

#8 WPU (8-0-1, 2-0-0) and Clarke (3-1-0, 1-1-0) traded offensive efforts throughout a physical match, with William Penn outshooting the Pride 13-10 in a game marked by 13 yellow cards and one red card.

William Penn struck early, as Miguel Menendez (So., Oviedo, Spain, Wellness and Recreation) delivered a header to Albert Feixas (Fr., Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain, Exercise Science), who found the back of the net just 3:57 into the game.

The Statesmen extended their lead in the 25th minute with a successful penalty kick from Leighton Jameson (Jr., Lisburn, Northern Ireland, Psychology).

Clarke responded in the second half with its lone goal of the night.  It is the first goal permitted by the navy and gold since September 1, snapping a three-game scoreless streak.

Just four minutes later, though, Eden Sears (Sr., Telford, England, Sports Management) flicked the ball past the goalkeeper off a rebounded shot by Matias Meijede (Grad., Brunete, Spain, Master's of Organizational Leadership), once again extending the advantage to two scores at the 64:16 mark.

Sears, Connor O'Reilly (Jr., Letterkenny, Ireland, General Accounting), Benjamin Pena (So., Santiago, Chile, Business Management), and Sven Henneberg (Fr., Dortmund, Germany) led the team with two shots each. 

Goalkeeper Sean Bohan (Sr., Dublin, Ireland, Business Management) limited the Pride to one goal, recording six instrumental saves.

"It was a tough game," said Head Coach Simon Brown. "Clarke is a good team, but we walked out with the win. I'll get the credit for breaking the win record tonight, but it is easy when you have good players." 

Next Up: The Statesmen will travel to Olathe, Kan. to face MidAmerica Nazarene Saturday in Heart action at 3:30 p.m.