BETHANY, Okla. – Despite playing in a home away from home match against Oklahoma Panhandle State, junior forward Joanne Nakirya found her way in the Mid-America Christian women's soccer record book on Friday. Nakirya tied the program's NAIA single match record of five goals in a 10-2 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State at Wes Harmon Field.

 
SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • MACU – 11:15 – Goal: Kelsey Henry (4), Assists: Johanna Behrens, Alex White – MACU 1, OPSU 0
  • MACU – 18:19 – Goal: Johanna Behrens (1), Assists: Kelsey Henry, Joanne Nakirya – MACU 2, OPSU 0
  • MACU – 20:37 – Goal: Marga Franco (2) – MACU 3, OPSU 0
  • MACU – 26:52 – Goal: Joanne Nakirya (7) – MACU 4, OPSU 0
  • MACU – 35:24 – Goal: Alex White (2) – MACU 5, OPSU 0
  • MACU – 41:53 – Goal: Veronica Lopez Cordero (6) – MACU 6, OPSU 0
• 2^nd Half
  • OPSU – 48:03 – Goal: Emily Elliot (1), Assists: Ariana Ramirez, Sophia Rodriguez – MACU 6, OPSU 1
  • MACU – 49:07 – Goal: Joanne Nakirya (8), Assist: Kyleigh Gibson – MACU 7, OPSU 1
  • MACU – 54:48 – Goal: Joanne Nakirya (9), Assists: Alex White, Marga Franco – MACU 8, OPSU 1
  • MACU – 55:11 – Goal: Joanne Nakirya (10), Assists: Johanna Behrens, Marga Franco – MACU 9, OPSU 1
  • MACU – 59:18 – Goal: Joanne Nakirya (11), Assist: Alex White – MACU 10, OPSU 1
  • OPSU – 90:00 – Goal: Emily Elliot (2) – MACU 10, OPSU 2

 
MATCH SUMMARY

• After missing some early chances, Mid-America Christian (5-1) was able to break through in the 12^th minute when some strong passing between Johanna Behrens to Alex White from left to center led to an open Kelsey Henry breaking down the right side of the 18-yard box, slipping a shot just inside the left post to take a 1-nil advantage.
• Behrens netted her first goal of the season in the 19^th minute while the Evangels were able to take advantage of a pair of Oklahoma Panhandle State (1-5) penalties inside the box, as Marga Franco and Joanne Nakirya scored a pair of penalty kicks in the 21^st and 27^th minutes to stretch the lead to 4-0.
• Alex White collected a loose ball and fired in an 18-yard blast from the left side before Veronica Lopez Cordero tallied her sixth goal of the season to send MACU into the halftime break with a 6-nil edge.
• After Oklahoma Panhandle State scored its first goal early in the second half, Nakirya completely took over the match, scoring four second half goals over a 10-minute stretch to bring the score to 10-1 in-favor of MACU.
• The Aggies pushed through the final score of the game just as the horn sounded as OPSU's Abby Elliot tallied her second of the match on a takeaway and long-distance shot that just barely slipped through the right post to wrap-up the 10-2 final.

 
MATCH NOTABLES

• Joanne Nakirya became the fourth Evangels player to score five goals in a match, joining former MACU great Kaci Power and current teammates Liz Lozano and Sylvie Willie to accomplish the feat. The Kampala, Uganda product is the second Evangels player to score five goals in a match this season and by adding an assist for 11 points, notched the second-most points of any player during the NAIA era (2008-present).
• The top-scoring team in the NAIA continued its scoring onslaught, notching its fourth double-digit goal effort in just six matches this season.
• Mid-America Christian outshot the Aggies by a 37-6 margin, including a 16-3 edge in shots on-goal.
• As a team, the Evangels finished with 10 assists, tying the second-most in a single match during the NAIA era. Alex White alone turned in three assists for the match, tying the third-most by a MACU player.
• Due to hazardous field conditions at Evangel Field, MACU's final home match of the 2020 portion of the season was played at Southern Nazarene's soccer field. It was the second time the Evangels played a home match against OPSU at a neutral site in the last two years after last season's meeting was played at Community Christian in Norman, Oklahoma due to flooding.

 
NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will wrap up the 2020 portion of its split schedule at Southwestern Assemblies of God on Friday, Nov. 13 in Waxahachie, Texas.