COLUMBUS, Miss. – Senior Kyle Morris scored the first goal of the night - as well as the match-winning last - in The W men's soccer's 3-2 home victory over Huntingdon College at the Roger Short Soccer Complex. The Owls (2-5-0) defeated the Hawks (1-3-2) for just the second time in the eight meetings between the clubs (the other coming in 2022), with the series now standing at 2-5-1. 
 
The win snapped a four-match skid by MUW this season. Even more sweet was that it also provided the Owls' faithful the opportunity to witness their first home win since October 15, 2023 (versus LaGrange, 2-1).
 
And what a win it was!
 
Morris continued to be a one-man wrecking crew for The W. Just 5:23 minutes into the match, Morris took a beautiful feed from Juan Puga and accelerated toward the net, blasting the ball past the Hawks' Trent Wineberg, to make it 1-0.
 
Huntingdon would respond with goals in the 21st and 42nd minutes, carrying a 2-1 led into the halftime locker room. But The W was not deterred.
 
After a foul by HC in the 55th minute, it was MUW's Ethan Barnes taking the restart, chipping the ball toward the front of the goal from 30 yards straightaway. Luke Bradley flicked the ball with his head past Wineberg with the equalizing goal, 2-2.
 
That set the stage for the match-winning score at the 75:16-minute mark. With a free kick just outside MUW's own goal box, Daniel Holmes lofted a perfectly-placed ball that was settled by Morris on the fly, just inside the attacking half. Morris juked past two would-be Hawks' defenders and bolted straight toward the goal with a one-on-one situation.
 
Without missing a step, Morris right-footed the ball from 10 yards in front, just as Wineberg slid at Morris' feet. But Morris powered the ball in anyway, as he hit the turf, popping up in time to savor his team-leading eighth goal of 2025, and the one that would give MUW the 3-2 decision.
 
Statistically, Huntingdon held a 23-to-7 advantage in total shots. But it was somewhat akin to the movie "Rocky III", where, in the rematch, the Mr. T character (Clubber Lang) took lots of swings but did little damage to Rocky. The Hawks produced eight shots on frame, just 35 percent of their total tries.
 
Conversely, The W seized its moments. The Owls mustered seven total shots, but five of them – 71 percent – were on-goal, with three hitting the back of the nets (60 percent). All three of Morris' shots were right on target, producing either a goal or a save.
 
MUW freshman goalie Nick Gutierrez made six saves. His counterpart Wineberg had two stops.
 
The W will play the fourth of five-consecutive home matches – and the squad's final non-conference tune-up – on Monday (September 22) versus Oakwood University. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at the Short Soccer Complex.