BILLINGS, Mont. – The Mid-America Christian University women's soccer team wrapped up their Labor Day Weekend trip to the northwest on Monday, looking to salvage a split of the weekend against the host Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears. Unfortunately for MACU, another slow first half led to a similar result in the tournament finale.
MACU (1-2) got a pair of second half goals on Monday, but they came when the Evangels were already trailing RMC (2-0) 5-0, and the match ended in a 6-2 Evangels' loss.
Rocky Mountain took control early, when Lauryn Gamache scored the first of her three goals in the match. Amber Pearson tallied in the 33rd minute, and Gamache scored again just over a minute later to give RMC a 3-0 lead, which they took with them into the halftime break.
Goals from Tiara Duford (50') and Shasta Grant (53') stretched the Battlin' Bears lead to 5-0, but in the 56th minute, Liz Lazano got the Evangels on the board. Lazano's goal was her second of the young season, and after Gamache completed the hat trick in the 58th minute, Callie Martin (83') scored her first goal as an Evangel to cap the scoring as RMC took the win 6-2.
Maia Wetzel (2-0) started and played the first half to earn the win for RMC, and Samantha Kelley played the second half. Jennifer Starwalt (1-2) started and played the first 80 minutes for MACU before she was lifted to allow Natalya Burke to make her MACU debut. Wetzel (2) and Kelley (1) combined for three saves for RMC, while Starwalt (6) and Burke (1) made a total of seven saves for the Evangels.
MACU will come home, then hit the road again next weekend when they head south to Houston, Texas for a pair of tough non-conference matches. The weekend will begin with a 1 p.m. tilt on Friday at the University of Houston-Victoria (0-2), before the Evangels wrap the trip on Saturday night with a battle against the University of St. Thomas (0-0) at 5:30 p.m.
