DUBUQUE, Iowa - First-team All-American Midwest Conference defender Omar Murrillo netted a brace for (RV) William Woods University, as it drew 3-3 at future conference opponent Clarke University Tuesday night at Burrows Field.
"Tonight was interesting and had a bit of everything: Goals from the run of play, set pieces and penalties," William Woods men's soccer coach
Tommy Nienhaus said. "Tons of action, as Clarke wanted to play direct at 100 mph, really forced us to adapt. We took the initiative and had the lead three times. Credit to Clarke to respond. We had a chance to win it in the end, but overall a fun match."
The Owls made the most of their chances, scoring three of their 11 shots (seven on goal) compared to the Prides' three of 24 shots (eight on goal).
Of all the players to score first, it was center back Murillo, who headed in
Nico Martinez Labra's corner into the right side of the net from the opposite post to put WWU in front 1-0 5:14 into the matchup.
Ten minutes later, Clarke got its equalizer off a corner of its own. Alonso Campos played a corner into a crowd of Owls and Pride in the penalty box, with Hector Medrano finding the ball and scoring right corner, the opposite post of Campos' corner, to tie it at 1.
Just 38 seconds later, William Woods went back in front 2-1 when midfielder
Charlie Williams headed in
Pedro Salmon's cross right corner.
Clarke concluded the four-goal back-and-forth first half when reigning NAIA Offensive Player of the Week Luke Persenico took a pass from Medrano and charged toward an onrushing Owls goalkeeper and scored after he slotted his shot home past the diving shot-stopper in the 34th minute.
At halftime, William Woods had six shots (five on goal), while the Pride registered 13 shots (four on goal).
The second half was all about the penalties, and the Owls were in favor of the first spot kick. In the 63rd minute, Carles Aparisi took down
Miles Andrews in the penalty box and was handed the second of five Pride yellow cards in the contest. Murrillo took the penalty and finished off his brace, placing his shot into the middle of the net as Clarke's goalkeeper went to his right.
Unfortunately for William Woods, it lost its 3-2 lead six minutes later when the Pride finished the scoring in the six-goal contest after Nearco Zamorano was slide tackled from behind by an Owl. Both teams scored three goals, and each had a player score a brace, with Persenico converting his spot kick to the left of WWU's goalkeeper to cap the offense in the 3-3 draw.
Owls goalkeeper
Matthew Dworak (3-1-2) saw his shutout streak end at 3 hours, 26 minutes, 12 seconds, spanning four matches. Although he conceded three goals, Dworak's five saves were two more than Clarke goalkeeper Phillipp Kohle's tally.
William Woods plays the last two games of its three-match week in front of its home crowd. The Owls have another Heart of America Athletic Conference preview before they join the conference next year, hosting No. 22 Central Methodist University (9-2-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday at North Campus Athletic Complex in Fulton. The matchup was originally scheduled for Aug. 30 but was postponed due to lightning in the area that day.
