Statesmen Take Down Heart Rival Grand View

Oskaloosa--The No. 16 William Penn men's soccer team closed out the 2025 conference season with a decisive showing, defeating Heart rival Grand View 2-0 Saturday night.

With the win, the navy and gold clinched the No. 4 seed in the Heart Championship and will host No. 5-seeded Park in Tuesday's quarterfinal matchup.

Both sides produced balanced offensive efforts, with William Penn (9-4-4, 7-3-3 Heart) holding a narrow 14-12 edge in total shots and a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal over Grand View (12-3-3, 8-3-2 Heart).

After a scoreless first half, where Grand View controlled much of the possession and outshot the Statesmen 7-3, William Penn came alive after the break, dominating with an 11-5 shot advantage.

The breakthrough came in the 78th minute when Mathis Thyli (So., Raufoss, Norway, Business Management) connected with Matias Meijide (Grad., Brunete, Spain, Master's of Organizational Leadership), who buried the opening goal to give the Statesmen the lead.

Still pressing for an insurance goal, John-Joe Mullane (Sr., Kent, England, Sports Management) threw the ball in to Jaime Rozalen (Jr., Valencia, Spain, Business Management), who flicked it to Javier Perez (Fr., Alicante, Spain, Business Management). Perez then slotted it past the keeper at the 81:53 mark to double the advantage and seal the win.

Meijide led the Statesmen with three shots, while Perez, Hector Bastos (Fr., Vitoria, Brazil, Computer Science), and Caleb Wright (Fr., Hitchin, England, Sports Management) added two apiece.

In goal, Lewis McNab (Fr., Weymouth, England, Business Management) recorded five saves to earn the first clean sheet of his WPU career.

"It was a really close game against a really good team," said Meijide. "Mathis got the ball, and as soon as he sent it back to me, I just kicked it, and luckily, we won.

"We had a really long season with ups and downs, but the most important thing was that the team stuck together through the tough moments. Now we're coming back and have momentum going into the tournament."

"When I'm on the field, I don't think about anything else. I just stay in the moment," said Perez. "I scored a goal, and I think we're in a really good spot right now. We need to stay focused, keep pushing, and keep winning. If we want to make nationals, we have to handle business in the tournament first, and I think we have a really good shot."

"Obviously, they're a very strong team. We knew it was going to be a battle coming in," said McNab. "Having a win Tuesday against Park and now against Grand View helps a lot."

Discussing the team's momentum, he added, "It gives you confidence. It helps me stay composed and make the big saves when it matters."

"I think if you were looking at it from the outside, you'd say this was a must-win for a couple of reasons," said Head Coach Joe Minton. "For national rankings and for conference standings, it was crucial to host. You want to stay at home as long as possible, so this was really important.

"It's always nice to beat a local rival like Grand View. It makes the win that much sweeter. Credit to them, though, they're a very good team. It's a good win, and we're going to enjoy it before getting back to work on Monday."

Minton continued, "I told the boys Tuesday against Park that this was about momentum. This is our season now, the start of it. We've had our blips and ups and downs, but we've figured out who we are, and we're going to run with it. Postseason is all about momentum, and right now, we're in a really good place. It's just about maintaining that."

Up Next: William Penn hosts No. 5 Park in the Heart Championship Quarterfinals on Tuesday at Drost Field. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m.