OKLAHOMA CITY – After suffering its first loss in Sooner Athletic Conference play over the weekend, the Mid-America Christian women's soccer team bounced back with a strong 4-0 victory over Southwestern Christian on Tuesday night in the team's last regular season home match of the 2020-21 season.

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • MACU – 15:13 – Goal: Kyleigh Gibson (10), Assists: Johanna Behrens, Kelsey Henry – MACU 1, SCU 0
  • MACU – 17:34 – Goal: Kelsey Henry (13), Assist: Sylvie Willie – MACU 2, SCU 0
  • MACU – 24:53 – Goal: Kyleigh Gibson (11), Assist: Kelsey Henry – MACU 3, SCU 0
• 2^nd Half
  • MACU – 86:20 – Goal: Kelsey Henry (14) – MACU 4, SCU 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• Neither team could muster much offense through the first 11 minutes until the Evangels fired off an offensive barrage that saw the team take five shots and four corner kicks over the next five minutes.
• Mid-America Christian was finally able to break through on its sixth shot of the match in the 16^th minute when Kelsey Henry was able to track down a long pass down the left side of the box before crossing it over to Johanna Behrens near the right post. Behrens quickly tapped a pass to Kyleigh Gibson breaking to middle as she tapped in her two-yard shot from the middle to the right side of the goal.
• Less than two minutes later, the Evangels added some insurance when Sylvie Willie was able to track down the loose ball on the left side of the box after Liz Lozano's long shot that was saved by SCU keeper Hannah Tillotson. She managed to dump it back to Kelsey Henry, who blasted an 18-yard shot from the left side to the right post, bringing it to a 2-nil score.
• MACU added one more for good measure in the first half when Brooklyn Fink's long ball from the left sideline bounced off a defender in the box toward the keeper. Before Tillotson had a chance to scoop up the loose ball, Henry crashed in on the play and did a heel pass to Gibson breaking in to the left side of the six-yard box, firing in a shot to the top right corner to make it a 3-0 Evangels advantage.
• The Evangels had a golden opportunity to add one more with 6:16 left in the half after a handball in the 18-yard box set up a penalty kick, but Marga Franco's free shot smashed off the crossbar and back to her and was called for offside for having the first touch after a PK.
• MACU's only score in the second half came with just under four minutes remaining after Joanne Nakirya was tripped up and fouled on a breakaway down the middle just a few yards outside of the goal box. In taking the free kick, Henry's 20-yard blast toward the goal caromed off of an Eagles defender and into the right side of the goal for her second score of the contest.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian dominated the offensive possession, attempting 23 shots with 10 landing on-goal while Southwestern Christian finished with just two shots with one being on-target.
• With two goals and two assists, senior forward Kelsey Henry tied a career-high six points, matching her output from when she netted three goals in the 3-0 victory at Southwestern Assemblies of God to open the 2021 portion of the season back on Feb. 23.
• Henry also took over the team's goal-scoring lead with 14 on the year while her 33 points sits even with Liz Lozano for the team-lead.
• With her fifth game-winning goal of the season, Gibson tied her own 2019 record shared with Brittney Stephens and Kaci Power for the second-most game-winners made in a season in program history. With not even two full seasons under her belt, Gibson has already moved into a tie with Chelsea Swisher for the fifth-most game-winners made in a career with 10 thus far through 35 matches.
• It was also the sixth multi-goal match of Gibson's career and her second of the season after netting four goals against Manhattan Christian in a 12-0 victory back on Oct. 17.
• Johanna Behrens recorded her sixth assist of the season, the third-most on the team while Sylvie Willie also turned in an assist, her third of the 2020-21 campaign.
• The Evangels scored four or more goals for the first time since topping Oklahoma Panhandle State 10-2 in a non-conference matchup on the campus of Southern Nazarene back on Nov. 6. The four-goal loss for the Eagles was also their second-largest deficit of the 2020-21 season.
• MACU improved to 11-0 all-time against Southwestern Christian, picking up its second straight 4-nil win against the Eagles after topping them in the NCCAA Central Region Championship on Nov. 19, 2019.

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will close out Sooner Athletic Conference play on the road as the Evangels will head to Goodwell, Okla. on Mar. 27 for a 1 p.m. matchup with Oklahoma Panhandle State.