No. 7 Statesmen Earn Road Win Over William Woods

Fulton, Mo.--The No. 7 William Penn men's soccer team battled through a back-and-forth contest to earn a 3-2 victory over William Woods in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Saturday.

The Statesmen (6-1-3, 4-0-2 Heart) controlled the attack, holding a 14-7 advantage in total shots and an 11-3 edge in shots on goal.

William Woods struck first with a goal in the 23rd minute, while the Statesmen were unable to convert on four first-half chances.

Albert Feixas (So., Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain, Exercise Science) leveled the match early in the second half, finishing a feed from Rob Stoop (So., Bosch en Duin, Netherlands, Exercise Science) in the 52nd minute.

The Owls briefly regained the lead six minutes later, but William Penn refused to back down. In the 69th minute, Caleb Wright (Fr., Hitchin, England, Sports Management) found Santiago Ruiz Haro (Grad., Mexico City, Mexico, Master's of Sports Management), who buried the equalizer to make it 2-2.

The decisive moment came after a reckless William Woods foul set up a Statesmen penalty kick, which Matias Meijide (Grad., Brunete, Spain, Master's of Organizational Leadership) calmly converted to secure the win.

William Penn pressed relentlessly in the second half, recording 10 shots after the break. Feixas, Meijide, Leonardo Jimenez (Fr., Mexico City, Mexico, Business Management), and Jaime Rozalen (Jr., Valencia, Spain, Business Management) each tallied two attempts to lead the offense.

"I'm happy that we showed resilience to come from behind twice and win on tough grounds. We are conceding too many sloppy goals, and we need to find a way to fix it," said Head Coach Joe Minton. "Overall, very happy with the results. All eyes are on a tough Missouri Valley team that won the conference last season. We are ready for the rivalry to be reignited."

Up Next: William Penn returns home to face defending Heart Regular Season Champion Missouri Valley Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Drost Field.