WPU Provides Fight Against Dordt in Season-Opening Loss

Oskaloosa--The Statesmen women's soccer team came up short, but showed plenty of promising signs in a 5-1 non-conference setback to Dordt Thursday.

William Penn (0-1) was outshot just 12-4 (7-3 in shots on goal) and played even with the Defenders (1-0) for the final 45 minutes of action in the head coaching debut for Kaleb Preston.

Unfortunately, the visitors took advantage of their first-half opportunities, including blowing out to a 2-0 advantage after only seven minutes on the pitch.

DU then added another goal in the 17th minute and capped a lopsided opening stanza with a fourth score in the 44th minute.

The navy and gold, who produced a couple of decent chances in the first period, came out a much different squad after intermission.

The hosts pushed the ball into the box and Joy Pagel (Jr., Maring-Noviand, Germany, Psychology) finally got the Statesmen on the board as she punched in a pass from Madison Ellis (So., Vancouver, B.C., Business Management) at the 46:53 mark.

WPU continued to hold the advantage in the second half, but Dordt eventually extended the margin back to four goals with a score in the 82nd minute to finish off the evening's scoring.

The trio of Emma Brandt (So., Cologne, Germany, Sports Management), Sian Bah (Jr., London, England, Political Science), and Lina Regadane (So., So., Ijmuiden, Netherlands, Business Management) all matched Pagel with a shot Thursday.

"Today was a good learning opportunity for our team," Preston said.  "Dordt is a strong and organized program, and we had to be switched on from the start, but unfortunately we made a few early mistakes that put us behind."

"We reacted well after halftime and our energy remained high, despite the scoreline," Preston added.  "Overall, I felt the game was competitive and closer than the result indicated.  We have some things to work out, but I expect the group to respond well and progress throughout the season."

Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Saturday to host William Woods in non-conference action at 1 p.m.