OKLAHOMA CITY – After rallying to force a 1-1 tie at Wayland Baptist earlier in the week, the Mid-America Christian women's soccer team will seek its first Sooner Athletic Conference victory as the Evangels travel to McPherson, Kan. on Saturday for a 3 p.m. match against Central Christian.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (4-3-1, 0-1-1 SAC) found itself down early after giving up a 6th minute goal to Wayland Baptist on Tuesday, but the Evangels were able to fight back. In the 70th minute, Marga Franco scored her first goal of the season when Brookyn Fink's free kick found the head of a Pioneers defender trying to clear. Franco was able to track down the loose ball on the right side of the goal box and fire a shot into the top right corner of the goal to lock the score up at 1-all, forcing overtime.
In the second overtime period, Jennifer Starwalt made a fantastic game-saving play. In the 107th minute, a cross from the right side found the head of WBU's Taylor Moore from point-blank range. The junior goalkeeper was perfectly positioned to bat the ball down, allowing for Kirsty Ashworth to clear the ball out of the box and seal the 1-1 draw.
SCOUTING THE LADY TIGERS
Central Christian comes into the weekend with a 4-4 record and are 0-1 in SAC play. The Lady Tigers played their first conference match of the 2019 season on Tuesday at No. 14 John Brown, falling 9-0 to the Golden Eagles.
The CCC attack will be focused around sophomore forward Alexa Riddle. The Garden Grove, Calif. product leads the team with eight goals while also possessing a team-high five assists.
The likely starter in goal for the Lady Tigers will be freshman Hannah Koehn. Since taking over the starting goalkeeper role in mid-September, Koehn has conceded 16 goals and has made 19 saves for a 0.543 save percentage.
HISTORY WITH THE LADY TIGERS
Central Christian holds a 4-2 edge in the all-time series, but the Evangels have been able to take two of the last three matches. MACU will be seeking to avenge a home loss to the Lady Tigers last season, as CCC defeated the Evangels 1-0 on Oct. 11, 2018 at Evangel Field.
YOU'RE A STAR-WALT
After going through a sophomore slump last season, junior goalkeeper Jennifer Starwalt has elevated herself to being one of the top goalkeepers in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Conceding 3.02 goals per match in 2018, Starwalt and the Evangels defense have lowered that number to just 1.35 this season, which ranks third in the SAC. Starwalt has allowed only more than one goal in just one of the last six matches and even then, she was part of a defense that held a No. 11 University of Science & Arts team averaging 5.2 goals per game to a season-low three goals while making a season-best nine saves.
In her last match at Wayland Baptist, Starwalt conceded just one goal to a Pioneers team averaging more than three per game and made four saves, including the game-saving play in the 107th minute of double overtime.
FOCUSING ON FRANCO
With Kyleigh Gibson, Bayleigh Fink and Liz Lozano taking a bulk share of the Evangels shots this season, 67 of the team's 139 to be exact and being the focal point of opposing defenses, junior defender Marga Franco stepped up into a big offensive role for MACU on Tuesday. After taking just two shots in her first six matches combined, Franco doubled that output against the Pioneers, firing four shots and putting home her first goal as a member of the Evangels.
