WAXAHACHIE, Texas – The Mid-America Christian women's soccer team opened its first ever split season on a high note as Kelsey Henry scored three goals to lead the Evangels to a 3-0 victory at Southwestern Assemblies of God to open Sooner Athletic Conference play on Tuesday afternoon.
 

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • MACU – 22:30 – Goal: Kelsey Henry (6) – MACU 1, SAGU 0
  • MACU – 28:11 – Goal: Kelsey Henry (7) – MACU 2, SAGU 0
• 2^nd Half
  • MACU – 83:41 – Goal: Kelsey Henry (8), Assist: Liz Lozano – MACU 3, SAGU 0

 

MATCH SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • In her return to the MACU lineup, senior midfielder Liz Lozano had the first great opportunity of the game in the 12^th minute when she was able to corral a loose ball inside the 18-yard box, but her follow-up shot bounced off the top of the crossbar and over the goal, keeping the game scoreless.
  • After having some strong ball control early in the half, Mid-America Christian was able to break through in the 23^rd minute. After Joanne Nakirya was fouled in the box going up for a header, Kelsey Henry pushed a penalty kick goal just inside the right post to make it a 1-nil MACU lead.
  • In the 29^th minute, Henry would get a second opportunity at a penalty kick when she was tripped up on a give-and-go inside the 18-yard box. Henry once again fired her PK into the right side of the net to extend the Evangels' edge to 2-0.
  • The Evangels defense stymied SAGU, limiting the Lady Lions to no shots for the first 45 minutes of regulation.
• 2^nd Half
  • Mid-America Christian played strong ball control offense in the second half as the Evangels didn't get a strong opportunity at a third goal until the 81^st minute when Lozano had another close shot bounce off the right post to Paola Camacho in the middle of the six-yard box, but was flagged for offside negating a putback goal.
  • Three minutes later, Henry tallied her hat trick when Lozano picked a SAGU defender's pocket on the right side before dishing it to Henry breaking down the middle, slipping her 12-yard shot to the left side of the net to cap the score at 3-0.

 

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its three goals on 29 shots, efficiently placing 16 shots on-goal while limiting Southwestern Assemblies of God to only one off-target attempt for the entire match. It was the second-fewest shots that the Evangels allowed so far during the split 2020-21 campaign after not giving up a single shot in their 12-0 victory over Manhattan Christian back on Oct. 17.
• Kelsey Henry turned in her first hat trick in the midst of her two-year Evangels career as she took three on-target shots, each finding the back of the net.
• Sylvie Willie and Liz Lozano made a big impact on the offensive end as well, each taking a team-high four shots with three of Willie's being on-frame and one of Lozano's finding the target.
• Despite not needing to make a huge impact on the defensive end, senior goalkeeper Jennifer Starwalt picked up her 33^rd win in goal, placing her just one back of Melissa Dobie for the program's NAIA era record while her 21^st shutout moved her three behind Dobie.
• The Evangels notched their first SAC opening win since topping Wayland Baptist 6-0 in Plainview, Texas on Sept. 26, 2017.
• The Evangels improved to 14-2 in their series with SAGU since joining the NAIA in 2007. The Evangels have won five straight against the Lady Lions as their last win of the fall season came in a 3-0 victory in Waxahachie on Nov. 13.

 

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will wrap up its road swing in Fort Worth, Texas on Saturday, Feb. 27 as the Evangels will have a 5 p.m. matchup with Texas Wesleyan.