OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's soccer team is prepared to close out its three-match road stand at Sterling College in Sterling, Kan. on Saturday. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. start and will be followed by the men's game at 3:30 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
The Evangels split their matches on a road trip to Arizona last week, dropping a heartbreaking 2-1 decision at Benedictine University at Mesa on Friday before bouncing back with a dominating 4-1 victory over Arizona Christian on Monday.
In the Benedictine match, the Redhawks scored the first goal of the match in the 26th minute and took the 1-nil edge into the halftime locker room. The Evangels were able to reclaim the momentum early in the second half when junior midfielder Liz Lozano scored the game-tying goal in the 49th minute.
Unfortunately, BenU Mesa's Alaniz Salas put the game-winner in the back of the net during the 85th minute to hand the Evangels their second straight loss to start the season.
However, Mid-America Christian was able to break into the win column in a big way against Arizona Christian. The Evangels scored three goals within the first 16 minutes of the match as Kelsey Henry started the scoring spree in the sixth minute and Kyleigh Gibson notched back-to-back goals in the 7th and 16th minutes to make it a 3-nil MACU advantage.
Henry added her second goal of the match in the 49th minute of the second half while the Firestorm's lone goal came off a penalty kick from a handball called inside the MACU goal box at the 77:30 mark.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Sterling College enters Saturday's contest with a 1-1 record, dropping its season-opener at No. 5 Benedictine (Kan.) 9-0 before bouncing back with a 4-0 win at home against Randall (Okla.) last week.
The Evangels will look to contain sophomore forward Hannah Dordt, who recorded a hat trick with three goals in the Warriors' victory over Randall. Senior midfielder Cobilyn Trempert has scored the only other goal for Sterling during the 2019 campaign.
The Warriors will likely start sophomore keeper Ashtan Jackson in-goal. Jackson has started the previous two games, giving up nine goals and recording 18 saves for a .667 save percentage.
HISTORY WITH THE WARRIORS
Mid-America Christian holds a 3-1 edge over Sterling in the all-time series, which includes a three-match win streak. The last time the Evangels played the Warriors was during the 2017 campaign, when MACU shut out Sterling by a score of 6-0 on their home turf back on Sept. 23, 2017. Brittney Stephens scored four goals in that match to lead the Evangels to victory.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
In the win over Arizona Christian, Gibson and Henry became the first two Evangels to score multiple goals in a match since the 2017 season. The last time it happened, the Evangels had four players score two or more goals in a 12-1 win over Bacone (Okla.) at Evangel Field on Oct. 10, 2017.
OH BABY A TRIPLE
In that same match against the Firestorm, Lozano recorded a career-high three assists, tying another 2017 mark when Alissa Tapp tallied three assists in a 6-0 win at Wayland Baptist on Sept. 26, 2017. Lozano currently leads the team with four assists on the season and tied for the team-lead in points with six alongside Gibson.
GOALS FOR GIBSON
The redshirt freshman from right down the road in Moore has played in intricate role in the Evangels offense through the first three matches of the season. Gibson currently leads the MACU attack with three goals, six points, 12 shots and eight shots on-goal. The last freshman to lead the Evangels in goal scoring in a season was Julia Nimal, who racked up 14 goals during the 2009 campaign.
