Women's Soccer 10/22/2020 10:42:00 AM Adam Stanek - MACU Sports Information

Women’s Soccer Hosts Science & Arts In Clash of High Scoring Teams

OKLAHOMA CITY – On Friday, two of the highest scoring teams in the NAIA will go head-to-head as the Mid-America Christian women's soccer team will be hosting Science & Arts in a 12 p.m. match at Evangel Field.

LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (4-0) put together yet another dominant offensive performance at the Stryker Sports Complex on Saturday, Oct. 7, scoring nine second half goals in-route to a 12-0 victory. Redshirt sophomore forward Kyleigh Gibson had a breakout game. After scoring just one goal on one shot attempt in the previous two matches, the 2019 NCCAA All-American scored four goals on eight shots, including the game-winner to lead the MACU offensive attack.

Senior forward Paola Camacho also put together one of the best performances of her career with MACU, recording the second-most assists in a single match during the NAIA era (2008-present) with four dimes to go along with a goal. Joanne Nakirya pitched in a pair of second half goals to extend her season scoring mark to six while Veronica Lopez Cordero continued to provide some scoring off the MACU bench with two goals.

Seeing her first action of the season, senior Makayla Lein also got the opportunity to get into the score column, firing in a 73^rd minute penalty kick to bring the score to 11-0 at the time.

The Evangels recorded multiple NAIA era team offensive marks in the contest despite missing one of the top scorers in the NAIA in Liz Lozano, which included breaking the program record for assists with 11. MACU notched the third-most goals (12), points (35) and shots (54) in the contest as well as tallied the fourth-most shots on-goal (28).

SCOUTING THE DROVERS
Science & Arts will enter Friday's contest with a 3-1 overall record, but are coming off a hard-fought 2-0 win at home over Central Christian on Oct. 16. While the Drovers outshot Central Christian 28-4 in the contest, USAO struggled to put shots on-goal with only eight of the 28 shots landing on-target.

Five different Drovers players have scored three or more goals this season, led by NAIA All-American and 2019 Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Year Emma Rice with eight scores for a total of 16 points. McKenzie Holub was also been a challenging player to defend, as she also has 16 points on the season off five goals and a team-leading six assists.

The Drovers will likely start Taylor Sorrell in goal, who has started in all four of USAO's matches and has accumulated a 3-1 record with just two goals conceded for a 0.58 goals against average and has made 11 saves on a .846 save percentage.

HISTORY WITH THE DROVERS
Mid-America Christian will be seeking its first win against Science & Arts since 2010 as the Drovers have been victorious in 13 of the 14 matchups. The Evangels faced USAO twice last season, dropping a hard-fought 3-1 matchup at Evangel Field on Sept. 27, 2019 before the Drovers came up with a 7-0 win in the Sooner Athletic Conference Semifinal on Nov. 12.

PRECISE STRIKING
The Evangels top strikers this season have been able to capitalize on their opportunities. Senior midfielder Liz Lozano has scored her 11 goals on 19 shots attempts for a blazing .579 shooting percentage and by putting 15 shots on-goal has put together a .789 SOG percentage. Kyleigh Gibson has also been able to be highly accurate in her shot attempts, scoring her five goals on nine shots for a .556 shooting percentage and with five landing on-target has also compiled a .556 SOG percentage. While Joanne Nakirya has scored her six goals on just .207 percent of her shots, the Kampala, Uganda native is putting pressure on opposing defenses by placing .552 of her shot attempts on-frame.

SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE
While the focus is on the offensive prowess of both clubs, one area that might be overlooked is how dominant both teams have been on the defensive side of the field so far during the 2020-21 season. Outside of conceding one goal against Texas A&M-Texarkana, the Evangels have pitched three shutouts and are allowing opponents to only attempt 3.3 shots per game with only nine shots landing on-goal. Senior goalkeeper Jennifer Starwalt has made eight saves on those nine shots for a .889 save percentage. Since a season-opening 2-1 loss at Hastings (Neb.), USAO has pitched three consecutive shutouts, allowing only five shots per game while Drovers goalkeeper Taylor Sorrell has saved all 10 shots that have been put on-target in those three matches.

STAT LEADERS