OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's soccer team is preparing for pool play at the NCCAA National Championships on Tuesday as the fourth-seeded Evangels will take on No. 7 seed Erskine College (S.C.) at 6 p.m. (5 p.m. CST) in the first match of Pool C play before wrapping up with third-seed Ottawa University (Ariz.) at 6 p.m. (5 p.m. CST) at the Austin-Tindall Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Fla.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (13-5-1) won its fourth NCCAA Central Region Championship since moving to the Division I level as the Evangels topped Southwestern Christian 4-0 at Evangel Field on Nov. 19. Senior midfielder Paola Camacho recorded her first multi-goal match as a member of the Evangels, scoring the game-winner in the seventh minute before adding one more in the 82nd minute.
MACU also got a pair of goals from its two top scorers Liz Lozano and Kyleigh Gibson, with Lozano tallying her 13th of the season in the 84th minute while Gibson notching her 12th in the 68th minute.
The Evangels dominated the Lady Eagles from start to finish, outshooting SCU 24-1 in the match with a 15-0 edge in shots-on-goal.
SCOUTING THE FLYING FLEET
Erskine enters the NCCAA National Championships with a 7-9-1 record after winning the Southeast Region by a score of 1-0 over Brewton-Parker back on Nov. 16. Junior midfielder Maddie Cole's 23rd minute game-winner was the difference maker in sending the Fleet to nationals.
Junior mid Katie Cauble leads a balanced Erskine attack with six goals and one assist for 13 points. The only other Fleet player with 10 or more points on the season is junior midfielder Devyn Cabral, tallying four goals and two assists for 10 points.
The likely starter at goalkeeper for EC is junior Cheyanne Fuller, who has appeared in 16 games and made 15 starts. Fuller is conceding 1.65 goals per game and has made 75 saves for a .743 save percentage.
SCOUTING THE SPIRIT
Ottawa will make its way into the tournament as the West Region representative, wrapping up the 2019 regular season with a 13-7 record. The last time the Spirit competed was in the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinal, falling to top-seeded Westmont by a score of 2-0.
The Spirit enter the tournament as the sixth-best scoring offense in the NCCAA, averaging 2.8 goals per game while giving up 1.6 goals per match. OUAZ is led by freshman forward Saipress Jones with 13 goals and eight assists for 34 points. Senior midfielder Sarah Inafuku has also been a tough matchup for opponents, tallying 22 points on eight goals and six assists.
Sophomore keeper Krysten Caballero will likely get the nod in goal, playing every minute for the Spirit and is giving up just 1.59 goals per game with 76 saves for a .704 save percentage.
FAMILIAR CONFINES
Mid-America Christian is no stranger to playing at the Austin-Tindall Sports Complex as the Evangels will be competing in their fourth NCCAA National Championship Tournament in the last six seasons. The last time MACU played in Florida was during the 2017 campaign when the Evangels defeated Southwestern Assemblies of God 1-0 in the NCCAA Central Region Championship. However, the Evangels will be looking for a better result this time around as the Evangels fell 1-0 to Columbia International and 5-0 to Indiana Wesleyan during pool play.
The Evangels best run at the NCCAA National Championships came during the 2015 campaign when MACU defeated Warner (Fla.) 2-1 and Columbia International 6-0 during pool play to advance to the NCCAA Semifinals. However, the Evangels magical run was cut short by the eventual NCCAA National Champion Houghton by a score of 1-0.
TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN
Despite being the No. 4 seed, the Evangels make their way into the tournament as the top-scoring qualifier with a 3.74 goals per game average while also recording the second-best scoring margin at 2.32, only behind top-seeded Cedarville at 2.95.
Before even playing a single match in the NCCAA National Championships, the Evangels have already scored a program-record 71 goals with the second-most assists in a single season at 41. While breaking multiple team records, the Evangels have done it with a balanced attack. The only player to reach a single season top five offensive mark this season is Gibson as her four game-winning goals is tied for the fourth-most in MACU history.
On the defensive end, Mid-America Christian has been stout, limiting opponents to just 1.39 goals per game on 9.6 shots with 5.1 shots on-goal. Junior goalkeeper Jennifer Starwalt has continued to ascend up the MACU season and career record books as she currently possesses the third-most shutouts in a single season (7) along with the second-most career shutouts (14). The Moore, Okla. product is just a win away from tying Melissa Dobie's single-season wins record (14) after moving into second all-time in career wins (27).
