FULTON, Mo. - For the first time since Oct. 18, 2001, and by the widest margin ever, (RV) William Woods University (2-1) beat former American Midwest Conference foe Columbia College (2-1), securing a 3-0 shutout victory on Labor Day, Monday at North Campus Athletic Complex.
"Today's performance checked all of our prematch focus areas," William Woods Director of Soccer
Tommy Nienhaus said. "We dealt with their attack, and how they wanted to play. We mitigated any counterattacks, and most importantly, met their intensity and overall we won our share of the individual matchups.
"Solid team effort."
While most were enjoying a relaxing day off from work, William Woods, in front of a large crowd, had its work pay off early Monday as it already netted the game-deciding goal just 11:13 into the contest. Receiving a pass from
Charlie Williams,
David Fink dribbled the ball up the pitch before quickly cutting the ball back to his left foot while fooling the Cougar in front of him and slotting his shot into the left corner of the goal to put the Owls on top.
That was the only goal of the first half, which turned into a defensive battle up to halftime.
Sixteen minutes into the second half,
Benjamin Lachaize doubled William Woods' advantage on Williams' match-high second assist. Catching Columbia off guard on the counter, Williams, from the middle of the field, played a ball into Lachaize, who dashed past the Cougars' defense and coolly placed his shot to the right of their shot-stopper.
While that may have already been enough to secure the win, the Owls finished off their historic result when
Fabio Juricko capped off a string of accurate passes by cutting it back to
Luis Pinto, who caught a hesitant Columbia off guard and sent his right-footed shot from the middle of the penalty box into the left side of the goal. Knowing the 68th-minute score gave William Woods its widest margin of victory against Columbia ever, the entire Owls team celebrated with Pinto at the corner flag near their bench.
Ensuring William Woods earned the 3-0 win, goalkeeper
Matthew Dworak, who had just as significant a role, if not more than the Owls' goalscorers, stopped all five of the Cougars' shots on goal. Showing just how immense Dworak's display was, WWU also had five shots on goal, meaning he totaled three more saves than his CC counterparts.
Woods achieved its third win in its all-time series with Columbia. The Owls recorded 3-1 victories against the Cougars on Oct. 18, 2001, in Columbia, Mo., and Oct. 18, 2000, in Fulton.
On top of that, William Woods picked up the result when the Cougars were coming into the match off a 2-1 win at No. 9 Missouri Valley College on Tuesday.
Following two impressive results, the Owls face Central Methodist University (1-1-1) in their first-ever Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Davis Field & Hairston Track in Fayette, Mo. When William Woods hosted the Eagles on Oct. 10 last season, the two teams played to a 2-2 draw.
