COLUMBIA, Mo. - The William Woods University men's soccer team, is set to travel west on I70 to square off with American Midwest Conference (AMC) rival Columbia College. Kick-off is set for 7:00 p.m on Thursday night.
The Owls (3-1-1; 0-0-1 AMC), are coming off a 1-1 draw in its AMC season opener against Park University last Saturday afternoon.
The Pirates were able to strike first, at the 19th mark, Park University's leading scorer Cyril Gadu found the back of the net, to give them the 1-0 lead. However, the Owls displayed a strong outing, as WWU lone goal came from the foot of Julian Wells at the 69th minute, collecting his first goal of the season. Both teams battled for 110:00 minutes of play but William Woods couldn't find the go ahead goal to nab a win against the Pirates.
"Park University is always near the top of the league so we knew if we came away with a good result here, we would be setting ourselves up nicely in the conference race," said head coach Nathan Mason. "Hopefully we can keep this momentum going."
Alex Severino, has proved that he wants to end his career as an Owl on a strong note, as the senior continues to lead WWU in several offensive categories, which include goals (five), shots (12), shots on goal (seven) and points (11). The midfielder's five goals in the season is tied for the fourth best in the AMC and ranked 29th in the Nation. Lendell Louis-Jacques is the Owls leader in assists, as the sophomore has handed out three on the season, while Conor Cable has recorded 14 saves in 221:12 minutes of play between the posts.
Columbia College comes into the match up off of an impressive 11-6 overall record and a 7-2 AMC record last season. The Cougars had its 2014 campaign come to an end in the AMC Tournament Championship Finals, in the hands of Lindenwood-Belleville 4-0.
On the season, CC is currently 4-2 overall and 1-0 in AMC play, the Cougars are coming off a 2-0 conference opener victory on Monday night against Freed-Hardeman University.
Offensively, the team has collected 14 goals on the season, as Vadim Cojocov leads the team with four, while Nic Powers, Michell Conning and Carter Cox have each added two goals a piece. Mark Steiniger has totaled two assists on the year, meanwhile in the net, Daniel Ainsworth has tallied 14 saves in 283:00 minutes of play.
"Our guys know this is a huge game," mentioned Mason. "It is every year for us, so we will be ready and fired up to play against Columbia College under the lights tomorrow."
Fans check back on wwuowls.com for a full recap and score of the AMC night cap from Columbia, Mo.
