OLATHE, Kan.—For the second consecutive year, William Woods men's soccer (5-8-1, 3-7-1 Heart) traveled to Olathe, Kan., to take on the #2 nationally ranked Pioneers of MidAmerica Nazarene (10-3-2, 8-2-1 Heart). Both years, the Owls left Olathe with a huge upset victory over one of the nation's premier soccer powerhouses.
The Neers tallied their first goal in the 17th minute of action after a costly WWU foul resulted in a flipped-field fastbreak for MNU. Caleb Brueckner found the back of the net off a cross-field pass from David Stoklasek. Fifteen minutes later, the Pioneers found their second goal of the contest when Jaxon Slaven fooled the keeper for his fourth goal of the season.
Both teams had chances to score in the final minutes of the first half but were unable to convert before the intermission. Woods left the pitch at the break facing a two-goal deficit to a team that had only let up four goals all season.
After the break, MNU picked up the same offensive veracity that they left with. The Neers were awarded two corner kicks, resulting in two shots on target in the opening minutes.
However, it was Woods who would tally the first blow of the second half. On the near side, Ajani Smith beat his defender and lofted a high-arching pass into the box that deflected off a member of the MNU backline and into the very capable feet of WWU sophomore and leading scorer Francesco Dibra. The front man from Italy delivered a striking blow past the keeper for the Owls' first goal of the contest.
The Pioneers placed two shots on frame over the next five minutes of play but were sent away by exceptional play between the posts from Martin Angulo. The freshman keeper from Ecuador deflected both shots away from an MNU scoring opportunity.
The Owls found the equalizer in the 60th minute, again from the Italian front man Dibra.
On the far side, Dibra sprinted past his defender and unloaded on a shot to the near-side post that rolled past the diving body of the MNU netminder. Woods, now level with the nationally ranked and heavily favored Pioneers, looked to find their go-ahead goal.
That miraculous goal came in the 62nd minute from Eski Equisabel. The freshman from San Sebastián, Spain, delivered in crunch time off the bench. Assisting on the play was fellow freshman Ace Davis, who struck a pass upfield to the Spaniard that Eski belted to the back of the net over the head of the keeper.
William Woods' defensive backline stifled wave after wave of Pioneer aggression in the closing minutes, holding on to the narrow one-goal margin.
In total, Angulo turned away 10 shots in the contest and anchored the defensive effort that helped aid the Owls in their 3-2 victory.
William Woods is back in action this weekend up the road from Olathe, in Atchison, Kansas, to take on the Benedictine Ravens.
