IW soccer splits at William Woods

FULTON, Mo. — Iowa Wesleyan soccer had another busy weekend as both the men and women’s squads hit the road to face off with William Woods University.

The Tiger men were struggling early in the season, but on Saturday they picked up their second win of the season and second in a row with a 4-1 victory over the Owls.

On the women’s side, the Tigers fought back from a 2-0 deficit, but couldn’t quite bring it back even falling to William Woods 2-1.

The Iowa Wesleyan men didn’t take long to find their pace against the Owls.

Just four minutes into the match, Richard Arch created some space from the back line and slip the ball into the net for his third goal of the season, giving Iowa Wesleyan a 1-0 lead.

Both teams battled back and forth over the next 10 minutes, but it was the Owls who found the best look with Breck McGrail connecting with Daniel Bateman in the 14th minute to knot the game at 1-1.

The fireworks continued through the rest of the half and the Tigers would add one more to their total before the end of the half.

Francisco Morsila put the ball past the keeper on an assist from Jose Bula in the 29th minute to put the Tigers up 2-1.

Each team was physical to begin the second half, but Iowa Wesleyan wasted no time to strike as Thomas Mullen hit Franciso Javier Saldana for the third goal of the night in the 58th minute.

Putting the finishing touches on the win for the Tigers was Richard Arch. Arch put his second goal of the day past the keep in the 88th minute.

The Tigers improve to 2-6 on the season. They were led offensively by Arch who finished with 2 goals on 2 shots. Morsila and Javier Saldana each added a goal for the Tigers as well. Defensively, Alvaro Morera finished with 8 saves on 9 shots on goals.

Up next, the Tigers will look to make it three in a row as they travel to take on the Harris-Stowe State University Hornets in St. Louis, Missouri on September 20 at 3 p.m.

On the contrary to the men, the Iowa Wesleyan women had to face adversity early.

It was the Tigers who found themselves down, as the Owls were awarded a penalty kick just eight minutes into the game. William Woods’ Lauren Helmert was able to convert, giving the Owls a 1-0 lead.

Both teams got some decent looks at the net throughout the rest of the half, but the Owls lead would stand at 1-0 by the halftime whistle.

Coming out of the half, the Owls answered again.

This time around Helmert was the one dishing out the assist, as she found Sydney Balducci for the second goal of the night in the 64th minute, putting the Owls up 2-0.

Iowa Wesleyan battled until the end, finding the back of the net for the first time in the 89th minute with Jacqueline Ivers finding Ana Medina-Suazo for the score.

Time was not on the Tigers side though as the Owls pulled out the one goal victory.

Iowa Wesleyan falls to 2-4 on the season. They were led Medina-Suazo on the offensive end. The Tigers goalkeeper, Cheleena Squibb, finished with 3 saves on 5 shots on goal attempts.

The Tigers will look to bounce back on Tuesday, September 20 as they travel to St. Louis, Missouri to take on the Harris-Stowe State University Hornets at 1 p.m.