WPU News
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 - [Men's Soccer]
Jacob Fairchild scored the go-ahead goal immediately following halftime
Oskaloosa--In a game that the Penn men's soccer team had to win to build confidence for a legitimate conference tournament run, the Statesmen defeated St. Ambrose 3-1 in Midwest Collegiate Conference play Saturday.
The win moves Penn (5-8-1, 2-5 MCC) into seventh place in the league standings, and with a win against Mount Mercy or a St. Ambrose loss to Iowa Wesleyan next week, the Statesmen can be assured of not having to win four games, including the infamous 8 vs. 9 game, to claim the conference tournament title.
The Statesmen opened the scoring in the 27th minute when Nik Rule (Sr., Idaho Falls, Idaho, Skyline HS) was fouled in the box, setting up a penalty kick for Jamie Gibbons (Sr., West Des Moines, Iowa Western CC).
The Fighting Bee goalkeeper anticipated the shot and dove to Gibbons' left, but Gibbons fired the shot to the right for the 1-0 Penn lead. It is the third goal for Gibbons this fall.
St. Ambrose (2-14-1, 1-5-1 MCC) answered back with a score in the 33rd minute to tie the matchup at 1-1 entering intermission.
Despite being outshot 16-9 in the second half (23-22 overall), the Statesmen still managed to come out on top as Jacob Fairchild (Fr., Beaumont, Texas, West Brook HS) scored his first collegiate goal off a pass from Rule in the 47th minute. It is Rule's sixth assist of the year, tying Jacob Plocher (Sr., West Plains, Mo., West Plains HS) for the team lead.
The hosts secured the win when Brian Smith (Sr., Joliet, Ill., Joliet CC) finished off a ball to the left of the goal for the insurance score in the 85th minute. The goal is Smith's second of 2009.
Fairchild led all players with six shots, while Rule, Plocher, and Vince Beseau (Sr., Florissant, Mo., Hazelwood Central HS) each had three shots.
Tadeo Cavazos (Sr., Baytown, Texas, Lee HS) tied a career high with 14 saves between the pipes.
Next: Penn travels to Canton, Mo. Wednesday to face Culver-Stockton in non-conference action at 4 p.m.
The win moves Penn (5-8-1, 2-5 MCC) into seventh place in the league standings, and with a win against Mount Mercy or a St. Ambrose loss to Iowa Wesleyan next week, the Statesmen can be assured of not having to win four games, including the infamous 8 vs. 9 game, to claim the conference tournament title.
The Statesmen opened the scoring in the 27th minute when Nik Rule (Sr., Idaho Falls, Idaho, Skyline HS) was fouled in the box, setting up a penalty kick for Jamie Gibbons (Sr., West Des Moines, Iowa Western CC).
The Fighting Bee goalkeeper anticipated the shot and dove to Gibbons' left, but Gibbons fired the shot to the right for the 1-0 Penn lead. It is the third goal for Gibbons this fall.
St. Ambrose (2-14-1, 1-5-1 MCC) answered back with a score in the 33rd minute to tie the matchup at 1-1 entering intermission.
Despite being outshot 16-9 in the second half (23-22 overall), the Statesmen still managed to come out on top as Jacob Fairchild (Fr., Beaumont, Texas, West Brook HS) scored his first collegiate goal off a pass from Rule in the 47th minute. It is Rule's sixth assist of the year, tying Jacob Plocher (Sr., West Plains, Mo., West Plains HS) for the team lead.
The hosts secured the win when Brian Smith (Sr., Joliet, Ill., Joliet CC) finished off a ball to the left of the goal for the insurance score in the 85th minute. The goal is Smith's second of 2009.
Fairchild led all players with six shots, while Rule, Plocher, and Vince Beseau (Sr., Florissant, Mo., Hazelwood Central HS) each had three shots.
Tadeo Cavazos (Sr., Baytown, Texas, Lee HS) tied a career high with 14 saves between the pipes.
Next: Penn travels to Canton, Mo. Wednesday to face Culver-Stockton in non-conference action at 4 p.m.
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