Statesmen Hold Off No. 7 Bellevue for 1-0 Road Win

Oskaloosa--The Statesmen men's soccer team battled to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over No. 7 Bellevue in a top-10 non-conference game Wednesday.

The win marks Head Coach Joseph Minton's first career victory at the helm after spending the past three seasons as an assistant.

No. 2 WPU (1-1-0) edged Bellevue (2-1-0) in total shots, 13-11, with both sides putting three attempts on target.  

WPU wasted little time getting on the board. Just 4:34 into the contest, Leighton Jameson (Sr., Lisburn, Northern Ireland, Psychology) delivered a 35-yard ball into the box, where Will Couch (Jr., Burnley, England, Sports Management) headed it home for the lone goal of the match.

The Statesmen maintained control through the opening half despite an even 6-6 shot count. 

Early in the second half, WPU had a chance to double its lead from the penalty spot, but the Bellevue keeper turned away the attempt.

Later, Statesmen goalkeeper Ryan Walsh-Rowe (Sr., Wexford, Ireland, Business Management) came up clutch on the other end, denying Bellevue a penalty kick goal to preserve the lead.

William Penn fired seven more shots in the second half but could not find insurance. Bellevue, meanwhile, managed five attempts after halftime as the navy and gold back line held firm.

Nine different Statesmen recorded shots in the win, led by Jameson with three.  John-Joe Mullane (Sr., Kent, England, Sports Management) and Angel Valdez (So., Mexicali, Mexico, Nursing) each added two.

"It's obviously good to get on the board with a win for this season. I think the most pleasing thing for myself is getting the first win as a head coach, but everybody did their job today," Minton said. "Ryan came up with two massive saves, forwards on scoring the goal, and the defenders defending very well. The most pleasing thing was that everyone did their job to the highest degree."

He continued, "We're looking forward to Ottawa. They had two positive results against two Heart teams. It's going to be no easy task to face them, but we're looking up to it. We are going to fine-tune what we need to and then go from there."

Next Up: The Statesmen return home to host Ottawa at Drost Field Saturday at 5 p.m. in non-conference play.