HANNIBAL, Mo. - (RV) William Woods' (6-2-2, 2-0 American Midwest Conference)
David Fink bagged a brace,
Matthew Dworak recorded his second straight shutout and
Miles Andrews scored the game-deicing goal, as the Owls routed Hannibal-LaGrange University (4-4-2, 0-2) 5-0 Saturday, their first-ever away win at Blackwell Field against the Trojans.
"Today went as well as we had prepared, and we prepared well!" William Woods men's soccer coach
Tommy Nienhaus said. "Pleased with how we set the tempo from the opening whistle and finished as well as we started.
"Another shutout and second AMC win. A good day."
Coming off a scoreless first half in its 1-0 win at Harris-Stowe State University last Saturday, William Woods knew it needed to get its offense going early - and often in this instance.
Just 7:29 into the contest, Andrews went on a solo run off a long ball and took a well-placed shot with his left foot into the left corner of the net from the back left of the penalty box to make it 1-0 Owls.
Keeping its foot on the pedal, William Woods doubled its advantage in the 14th minute when
TJ Mathias scored a header from the opposite, left-side post off a
Pedro Salmon cross from the right side of the pitch. Only 1:37 after that goal, the Owls increased their lead to 3-0 when Fink tapped in his shot from in close from the right side of the penalty area after taking a short pass from
Charlie Williams.
Scoring the final goal in William Woods' four-goal first half,
Breck McGrail darted down the middle of the pitch and easily slotted his shot into the left corner of the goal.
The Owls outshot the Trojans 20-2 in a lively first half. That was followed by a more defensive second half, with five shots for William Woods and two for Hannibal-LaGrange. For the match, WWU tallied 25 shots (11 on goal,) and HLGU had four shots (two on goal).
Fink finished off his brace 88:33 into the contest, taking a pinpoint shot into the left corner of the net from a bit outside the left side of the penalty box. That goal secured the Owls' 5-0 victory over the Trojans.
William Woods goalkeeper Dworak (4-2-1)Â earned the win and made two saves in as many attempts. The Owls' Polish shot-stopper extended his shutout streak to 189:23 and counting.
After playing its last-ever conference game against HLGU, William Woods gets a conference preview for next season when it joins the Heart of America Athletic Conference, as the Owls take on Clarke University (6-3) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Burrows Field in Dubuque, Iowa.
