OKLAHOMA CITY – In the midst of one of the best seasons in the history of the program, the Mid-America Christian women's soccer team placed five players on the Sooner Athletic Conference Postseason All-Conference list.
Freshman defender Brooklyn Fink was honored with the SAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year award while junior goalkeeper Jennifer Starwalt joined Fink on the First Team list. Three Evangels made the All-SAC Second Team, including: junior midfielder Liz Lozano, redshirt freshman Kyleigh Gibson and junior midfielder Marga Franco.
Fink earned the SAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year honor after appearing in 16 games, making 15 starts and logging a team-high 1283 minutes with seven games completed in full-time. Fink was a part of a strong defensive backfield that recorded eight shutouts and held opponents to just 1.25 goals per match. On top of her defensive prowess, the Moore, Okla. native has been an effective player on throw-ins that have led to goals.
Having a resurgent year in goal, Starwalt closed out her 2019 campaign with an 11-4-1 record in-goal, tying the second-most wins in a single season in program history for a goalkeeper. Starwalt is also giving up just 1.33 goals per game, the fifth-best percentage in a single season during the NAIA era.
In her third season with the Evangels, junior midfielder Liz Lozano is in the midst of her best season after leading the team with 12 goals and six assists for a team-high 30 points. The Aguascalientes, Mexico native has recorded four multi-goal games, scored game-winning goals in back-to-back games against Bethel College and Randall as well as dished out a career-high three assists in a 4-1 victory over Arizona Christian.
After sitting out a season ago, Gibson has made her presence felt on the pitch for the Evangels with the second-most goals on the team with 11 to go with four assists for 26 points. The Moore, Okla. product scored the first goal of the season for MACU in its season-opener against Northwestern Oklahoma State and followed it up with back-to-back multi-goal games against Arizona Christian and Sterling in the following week. Gibson's biggest goal of the season came in the final minutes of regulation at Central Christian, putting the game-winner through the right side after beating the defense for the 4-3 victory.
Making the All-SAC Second Team list in her first season with the Evangels, Franco completed the regular season with a pair of goals and three assists in 1107 minutes of work. The Palma de Mallorca, Spain native came up with the game-tying goal against Wayland Baptist to force a 1-1 draw on Oct. 1 and scored the second half equalizer against No. 10 John Brown on Tuesday.
Mid-America Christian will be playing in its first SAC Quarterfinal match at home since 2010 on Saturday as the Evangels will host the fifth-seeded Oklahoma City for a 2 p.m. match at Evangel Field.
