Box Score FULTON, Mo. - Taking on last season's Heart of America Athletic Conference champion, No. 10 William Penn University (5-3, 4-0 Heart), William Woods University (1-6, 1-3), only trailed by two goals at halftime, but the Owls ultimately lost 18-7 to the Statesmen Saturday at North Campus Athletic Complex.
Vinny DeMarco played a key offensive role, helping WWU stay in the game by tallying four goals and one assist on 17 shots (10 on goal). Half of DeMarco's goals came in the first half, and he had the Owls' lone game-tying goal - WWU didn't take the lead - with 7:51 remaining in the first period.
Ethan NewMyer also stood out in The Woods' attack, registering one goal and one assist on six shots (two on goal). He also scooped one ground ball.
Speaking of ground balls, Owls long stick midfielder
Chris Hanson epitomized his role, notching a team-high six ground balls and forcing a game-high five caused turnovers. Woods had all three multi-caused-turnover displays, as
Kyle Fischer and
Loren Woita each had two caused turnovers.
Taking on a much more formidable opponent than their previous matchup, the Owls' goalie,
Drew Stubblefield, was called to action much more, making 16 saves. Stubblefield had a tremendous first half, stopping eight shots and conceding just five goals.
William Penn netted the game's first goal with 14:13 to go in the first period. After DeMarco scored the leveler for Woods, the Statesmen posted two unanswered goals before
Sam Snyder pulled the Owls within one goal of WPU, ending the first-period offense when he found the back of the net with 1:21 left.
William Woods narrowed its deficit to as few as one goal two more times thanks to DeMarco, who potted his second goal that made it 4-3 Statesmen with 11:08 remaining in the second period, then secured his hat trick that put it at 5-4 WPU with 12:56 to go in the third period.
After that goal, the Statesmen tallied 11 unanswered goals before the Owls scored two successive goals to bring the score to 16-6 WPU with 7:11 left in the contest. Those goals for WWU were recorded by NewMyer off a DeMarco assist with a man-up and
David Wiley from
Jack Brackin's helper. DeMarco finished his four-goal performance and the game's offense when he slotted his shot provided by NewMyer past the goalie with 20 seconds on the clock.
For the game, William Woods totaled 44 shots (22 on goal), 29 ground balls, 11 turnovers and seven faceoff wins. William Penn posted 47 shots (34 on goal), 37 ground balls, 18 turnovers and 22 faceoff wins.
The Owls have a two-game road trip next week, opening the week facing (RV) Benedictine College (3-5, 2-1 Heart) at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Legacy Field in Atchison, Kansas.
