OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's soccer team will celebrate its seniors on Saturday as the Evangels host Texas Wesleyan in a pivotal Sooner Athletic Conference matchup at Evangel Field for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (10-3-1, 5-1-1 SAC) scored an NAIA program record 15 goals and the second-most goals in the program's overall history in a 15-0 shutout victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Oct. 26 after the match was moved to Royal Field at Community Christian School in Norman, Okla. due to hazardous field conditions.
With Sylvie Willie's goal in the 79th minute, the Evangels surpassed its NAIA era record previous held by the 2017 squad that pulled out a 14-0 win over Manhattan Christian College in its season opener. The goal scored by Willie was her fifth of the match, setting a new MACU single game match record.
SCOUTING THE LADY RAMS
Texas Wesleyan (11-4, 6-1 SAC) currently hold a two-point edge over the Evangels in conference points as the Lady Rams are currently in a tie with No. 10 John Brown for second in the league standings with 18 points. TWU is coming off one of the biggest upsets of the 2019 season when they handed John Brown its first conference loss of the season in a 2-1 affair at home on Oct. 24.
The Evangels will face a tough test in guarding the league's top goal scorer in Tameir Grosvenor. The 5-2 forward ranks fifth in all of NAIA with 28 goals and 65 points to go with nine assists. Taylor Ross also presents a challenge in the attack, ranking second on the team with 10 goals and seven assists for 27 points.
The Lady Rams also feature a strong goalkeeper in Christy Zwart, who has conceded just 23 goals in 15 matches for a 1.62 goals allowed average. Zwart has made 66 saves for a .742 save percentage this season.
HISTORY WITH THE LADY RAMS
MACU will be looking to snap a four-match losing streak to the Lady Rams as TWU holds a 5-3 edge in the all-time series. The last time the Evangels defeated Texas Wesleyan came on Oct. 6, 2015 as Kaci Power's game-winner and Kaitlyn Whitten's 11 saves propelled MACU to a 1-nil victory at Evangel Field. In last season's meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, Liz Lozano netted the Evangels lone goal, but Grosvenor proved to be too much with a pair of goals to lead the Lady Rams to a 2-1 win.
SENIOR SENDOFF
Four seniors for the Mid-America Christian women's soccer team will be competing in their final regular season match at Evangel Field. Seniors Kelsey Janko, Kirsty Ashworth, Paola Camacho and Ariadna Ramirez have all played a major role in the best season the Evangels have put together since the 2011 campaign when MACU went 12-7-1 (6-4-1 SAC) and advanced to the NCCAA Central Region Championship match.
A 5-7 defender from Mustang, Okla., Janko has been a staple of the Evangels lineup, playing in all 14 matches and logging the fourth-most minutes on the team with 1039. Janko tallied her first assist of the 2019 season in the 15-0 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State last week.
A 5-7 defender from Oldham, England, Ashworth has been working her way back from injury, competing in nine matches and starting the first seven matches of the season. Ashworth scored her lone goal of the year in a 7-0 victory over Bethel College on Sept. 13.
A 5-7 midfielder out of Anzoategui, Venezuela, Camacho has played a major role in the Evangels hot streak. Appearing in 13 matches, Camacho has started in four of the last six and has scored three goals and recorded four assists. Camacho turned in her best performance of the season against the Aggies last week, notching a goal and two assists in the victory.
Rounding out the graduates is a 5-3 mid from Bogota, Columbia who is one of the Evangels top four goal-scorers. Despite playing just eight matches and making one start, Ramirez has made her presence felt with seven goals. Ramirez recorded the second-most goals scored in a single match with four against Oklahoma Panhandle State last week. Ramirez notched the game-tying goal in the second half against Oklahoma City on Oct. 22, a match the Evangels pulled out with a last minute goal for a 3-2 win.
Mid-America Christian will honor its four graduating seniors at the conclusion of the contest and prior to the start of the men's match.
