OKLAHOMA CITY – Playing in her final regular season home match at Evangel Field on Saturday, senior midfielder Paola Camacho from the Mid-America Christian women's soccer team made sure it would be a memorable one. In the 104th minute of double overtime, Camacho headed in the golden goal to propel the Evangels to a 1-0 victory over Texas Wesleyan on Senior Day.
On the game-winning play, freshman defender Brooklyn Fink tracked down a cleared ball following her throw-in and laid out a beautiful cross from the right side to near the left post, where the crashing Camacho smacked a header into the top left corner to close out the victory.
It was a crucial win for the Evangels as Mid-America Christian (11-3-1, 6-1-1 Sooner Athletic Conference) locked up one of the top four spots in the SAC Tournament and will host a quarterfinal match. Not only did MACU jump Texas Wesleyan (11-3-2, 6-2 SAC) in the conference standings, but also moved into a tie for second with No. 10 John Brown with 19 conference points after Southwestern Christian tied the Golden Eagles on Saturday.
Despite the first half being scoreless, both Mid-America Christian and Texas Wesleyan made fantastic plays. In the 16th minute, Kelsey Henry had a great look on an open shot from the middle at 15 yards out, but TWU goalkeeper Christy Zwert made a phenomenal diving save to push the ball out the right side, keeping the Evangels off the board.
With 12:15 remaining in the half, Evangels goalkeeper Jennifer Starwalt made a strong save of her own on a shot put just underneath the crossbar, batting the ball up in the air and corralling it to keep the game tied.
MACU had another chance to score the go-ahead goal in the 36th minute, but Liz Lozano's shot attempt toward the right post was stopped on a diving save by Zwert to keep the match scoreless heading into the halftime break.
Mid-America Christian dominated the possession in the opening half, outshooting the Lady Rams 11-6 with a 7-1 margin in shot on-goal.
Early in the second half, Camacho had a chance to give MACU the lead in the 50th minute on an open look from the left side of the box, but her shot sailed just over the crossbar to keep the game in a scoreless draw.
The Evangels had another great chance with 22:12 remaining in regulation when Lozano found an open Ariadna Ramirez on the left side, but the Lady Rams goalkeeper again made a great save to prevent the potential game-winner from crossing.
Neither team had many good looks at a game-winner the remainder of the half as regulation ended with the two teams locked up at nil.
In the first overtime, Mid-America Christian had another close opportunity just slip through its finger tips. With just over a minute remaining in the extra period, Kyleigh Gibson fired a shot from the right side that was originally saved on a diving stop by Zwert, but the loose ball found Camacho near the left post and her putback attempt bounced off the crossbar before the TWU keeper scrambled to corral the loose ball and end the threat.
After having two close misses in the second half and overtime, Camacho did not miss her third chance in the second overtime period, netting her fourth goal of the 2019 season and her first game-winner of the year.
Even though the match ended in a 1-0 victory for the Evangels, Mid-America Christian dominated the possession against the fifth-best scoring offense in the NAIA. MACU outshot the Lady Rams by a 25-10 margin which included a 14-3 edge in shots on-goal.
Camacho and Gibson led the MACU attack with five shots apiece with three of Gibson's attempts being on-target. Starwalt improved her goalkeeping record to 11-3-1 and earned her fifth shutout of the 2019 season.
The Evangels have fared well in matches that make it to two overtimes as it was the second match in the last three games MACU went to double OT, with the last being a dramatic 3-2 win at Oklahoma City on Oct. 22 on Bayleigh Fink's golden goal in the last minute of the match.
Following the win, Mid-America Christian held a Senior Day ceremony to honor its four graduating seniors, which included Camacho, Ramirez, Kelsey Janko and Kirstey Ashworth.
The stakes have been raised for MACU's regular season finale on Tuesday, Nov. 5 as the Evangels will head to John Brown to face the Golden Eagles with the No. 2 seed in the SAC Tournament on the line. The match is slated for a 5 p.m. kickoff.
