Hat Trick from Cornish Seals Win for Statesmen

Oskaloosa—Hugo Cornish (So., Sydney, Australia, Business Management) recorded his first career hat trick as the Statesmen men's soccer team locked up a 5-2 victory over Culver-Stockton in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Tuesday. 

#8 William Penn (14-2-1, 8-2 Heart) commanded the attack against Culver-Stockton (1-11-4, 0-8-1 Heart), leading with a 23-7 shot surplus. 

The Wildcats scored an early goal at the 3:14 mark, but just four minutes later, Miguel Menendez (So., Oviedo, Spain, Wellness and Recreation) sent a cross into the box and Cornish found the ball, putting it to the back of the net. 

The Statesmen then took the lead for good when Albert Feixas (So., Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain, Exercise Science) headed the ball past the goalkeeper with a pass from John-Joe Mullane (Jr., Kent, England, Sports Management) at the 24:48 mark. 

In the 39th minute, C-SC was able to record the equalizer, but the rest of the contest belonged to the visitors. Just 1:58 into the second half, Cornish struck the ball into the net off a free kick.  Then, at the 59:07 mark, Cornish delivered another free kick, this time finding the top left corner of the goal, securing his first hat trick at William Penn. The achievement also marks the first hat trick in the program since 2021.

Leighton Jameson (Jr., Lisburn, Northern Ireland, Psychology) capped the night's scoring with a penalty kick goal in the 84th minute.

William Penn stayed busy with nine players registering a strike. Menendez paced the Statesmen with five attempts, while Cornish and Feixas added four chances apiece. Jameson posted three tallies as Mullane and Matias Meijede (Grad., Brunete, Spain, Master's of Organizational Leadership) recorded two shots each. 

"Fair play to Hugo for getting a hat trick," said Head Coach Simon Brown.  "We unfortunately made things more difficult on ourselves than they needed to be tonight.  Now we just need to get fresh and recover so we can finish off the season strong against Benedictine on Homecoming on Saturday."

Next Up: William Penn finishes its regular season by playing Heart opponent Benedictine in Oskaloosa at Drost Field Saturday at 1:30 p.m. as William Penn celebrates Homecoming.