FORT WORTH, Texas – Brae Baker's impact on the offensive end has been felt all season for the MACU Women's Soccer team, but the sophomore forward perhaps had her best game as an Evangel yet as she tallied five points off of a pair of goals and an assist to lead MACU to a 3-1 victory over Texas Wesleyan at Martin Field on Saturday.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – MACU – 6:01 – Goal: Brae Baker (10), Assists: Caitlin Hirst, Gladis Avalos – MACU 1, TXWES 0
• 1^st Half – MACU – 20:29 – Goal: Gladis Avalos (3), Assist: Brae Baker – MACU 2, TXWES 0
• 1^st Half – MACU – 29:54 – Goal: Brae Baker (11), Assist: Francesca Martella – MACU 3, TXWES 0
• 2^nd Half – TXWES – 84:02 – Goal: Mikayla Trevino (3) – MACU 3, TXWES 1

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • After peppering a couple of shots on-goal through the first few minutes, Mid-America Christian (10-2-2, 5-1 SAC) captured the advantage only six minutes in. On the go-ahead play, Caitlin Hirst threw it in from the right side to Gladis Avalos, who quickly flicked it forward to Brae Baker near the edge of the box. Taking a one-time dribble past her defender, Baker rifled a strong 14-yards shot from the right side to the top left corner to make it a 1-0 game.
  • In the 21^st minute, Brae Baker nearly netted her second goal of the match when a loose ball off a left side corner ended up at her foot as she fired a half-volley toward the right post. After deflecting off the post, it ended up right to Gladis Avalos, who was wide open for the easy eight-yard strike from the middle to the left post to set the score to 2-0.
  • With just over 15 minutes remaining in the half, Brae Baker got herself on the brace when Francesca Martella launched a deep ball for Deborah Silveira sprinting down the right side. Deflecting off a Texas Wesleyan (3-9-2, 1-4-1 SAC) defender, the ball ended up at the foot of Baker, who blasted in a 23-yard strike from the middle to the left post to seal the MACU scoring at 3-0.
  • The Lady Rams only had one dangerous scoring chance with 12 minutes remaining when a long 25-yard strike from the right side by Alexa Bezpalko pinged off the top of the crossbar and out-of-bounds, ultimately sending the contest into the half with MACU holding a commanding 3-0 advantage.
• Second Half
  • Texas Wesleyan did not get its first on-target attempt until the 61^st minute on a long shot by Bezkalpo again. However, the long bounding strike from 35-yards out was easily knocked down by MACU goalkeeper Rachel Torres.
  • After blitzing the Lady Rams defense in the first half, Mid-America Christian was only able to muster two on-target shots in the second half, but the shots from Avalos in the 69^th and Jasie Eischen in the 71^st minutes were snared by goalkeeper Ally Kolba for the saves.
  • The Lady Rams only goal of the contest came in the 85^th minute against mostly MACU reserves when TXWES's Mikayla Trevino was able to dribble through the midfield against MACU's defense before shooting a precise 25-yard strike just inside the left post to wrap-up the scoring at 3-1.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian dominated most of the possession, outshooting Texas Wesleyan by a 13-4 margin with an 8-2 edge in shots on-goal.
• With her two-goal and one assist outing for five points, Brae Baker extended her season goal total to 11, her assist total to six and her overall point total to 28. Her second goal was her sixth within Sooner Athletic Conference play, moving her into a tie for the league-lead in goal scoring while her 15 total points in conference play is tied for the lead with JBU's Lauren Walter.
• Gladis Avalos also finished with a three-point outing behind her goal and assist, marking her third goal and third dime of the season to bump her season total up to 12.
• Francesca Martella kept into a tie for the team-lead in assists with Baker with her sixth of the year.
• Rachel Torres continued to be outstanding in-goal for MACU as she did not allow a goal in 72 minutes of action before leaving the match, shrinking her SAC-leading goals allowed average down to 0.53.
• The result marks the 12^th time since 2006 that MACU has tallied 10 or more wins in a season, including the fifth time in the last six years.
• Mid-America Christian has also fared well against Texas Wesleyan in that stretch as MACU has now won the last six meetings dating back to the 2019 season.
• The result also allowed the Evangels to stay in lock step with John Brown and Science & Arts at the top of the SAC standings with all three programs sitting at 5-1 with only three matches left in conference play.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back at the Dill Soccer Field on Tuesday night as the Evangels will play their final regular season home game against Southwestern Christian. The match is scheduled for a 4 p.m. kickoff.