The William Woods University men's soccer team returns to the AMC Tournament Semifinals for the third straight season under head coach
Nathan Mason, seeking to avenge a regular season loss to Hannibal-LaGrange University on Tuesday afternoon. The match is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
The Matchup
William Woods entered the AMC Postseason Tournament as the no. 4 seed after posting a 4-3-1 record in league play. The Owls dispatched the no. 5 seeded Park Pirates with ease on Saturday, rolling to a 3-0 win. Hannibal-LaGrange earned a first round bye as the regular season champions and no. 1 seed. The Trojans finished the league slate with a 7-1 mark and are ranked no. 22 in the NAIA Coaches' Poll.
Last Time Out
The Owls posted a decisive 3-0 home win over Park University in the first round of the AMC Postseason Tournament on Saturday.
Marcelo Carreiro opened the scoring for WWU late in the first half, slotting a hard shot under a charging Park goalkeeper for a 1-0 halftime lead.
Sebastian Burich and
Joao Paulo Parra would team up for the second and third WWU goals, with each finding the other.
Parra fed Burich with a long ball on the counterattack, with the Chilean settling the ball, beating his defender and curling the shot into the left upper 90. Burich returned the favor in the 84th minute, laying off a square ball to Parra that the Brazilian curled into the opposite corner.
Owls In The Tournament
William Woods advanced to the semifinals for the third straight year under
Nathan Mason's leadership, the fourth semifinal appearance in program history. The Owls are 3-4 in tournament play during Mason's tenure.
High Octane Offense
After finishing the regular season tied for second in the AMC with 50 goals, the Owls have continued to run rampant on the offense.
Six different players, led by
Marcelo Carreiro with 12, have scored four or more goals on the year.
Ryan Mann,
Joao Paulo Parra and
Sebastian Burich have each tallied six, with
Luca Stroeter adding four.
Sharing The Wealth
The Owls have been unselfish with the assists, tallying 43 so far on the season.
Joao Paulo Parra leads the team with eight, while
Luca Stroeter has recorded seven on the campaign.
National Rankings
The Owls are ranked in the top 50 in the NAIA in a number of categories. With their 3-0 win over Park, WWU moved into the gridlock at 43rd with five clean sheets on the year. On the offensive side of the ledger, their 53 goals is good for 18th in the country, with their 43 assists 12th-best. William Woods also ranks 11th and 12th in shots and shots on goal per game, with a pace of 20.89 overall shots and 10.11 on frame.
Individually,
Marcelo Carreiro climed into 19th with his fourth game-winner of the season, with
Joao Paulo Parra in 48th with three. Carreiro's 12 total goals are good for 44th in the country.
Conference Rankings
With the advantage of one more game in the books, the Owls have taken sole possession of second in the league in scoring, with 53 goals and 43 assists to 50 and 40 for Columbia College.
Individually,
Marcelo Carreiro is tied for second with 12 goals on the year, one in front of Columbia's Marko Paunovic and level with Justin Lex of Benedictine University at Springfield.
On the assists ledger,
Joao Paulo Parra is fourth in the league with eight.
Luca Stroeter is in a three-way tie for fifth with seven on the campaign.
