OSKALOOSA — The Statesmen men’s soccer team scored twice on corner kicks as it won its 2023 season opener 2-0 over Governors State in non-conference action Saturday.

William Penn (1-0) outshot the Jaguars 10-5 on an afternoon with temperatures soaring into the 90s accompanied by a stiff southern wind.

The navy and gold battled against a headwind in the first half and were nearly held off the scoreboard, but finally broke through in the 43rd minute.  Lukas Koch (Sr., Moers, Germany, Sports Management) served up a beautiful corner kick ball and Edan Sears (Jr., Telford, England, Sports Management) ran onto it, putting it away along the near post for the lone score of the opening 45 minutes.

Just over nine minutes into the second stanza, Koch placed another corner kick service in front of the goal.  This time, Alessandro Bedei (Jr., Cesena, Italy, Business Management) connected on the volley and beat the GSU goalkeeper to double the home advantage.

William Penn’s defense was formidable throughout, helping Sean Bohan (Jr., Dublin, Ireland, Business Management) earn the shutout in his Statesmen debut.  He was not tested Saturday, posting the clean sheet without any saves.

“We definitely had some first-game jitters,” Head Coach Simon Brown said.  “We also scheduled a quality team that placed third in its conference last year, so we knew it would not be easy.  We had to battle the elements, but went deep into our bench to accommodate for our demanding style of play.  Ultimately, we kept the clean sheet and won the first game of the year.”