OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Women's Soccer team despite being without its top offensive striker was able to take care of business against Southwestern Christian in its final home match of the regular season as the Evangels came away with the 2-0 victory at the Dill Soccer Field.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – MACU – 9:33 – Goal: Maria Alonso (1), Assists: Annika Gerdau, Francesca Martella – MACU 1, SCU 0
• 1^st Half – MACU – 19:02 – Goal: Francesca Martella (1), Assist: Annika Gerdau – MACU 2, SCU 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (11-2-2, 6-1 SAC) was able to take advantage of its first on-goal chance in the 10^th minute. Playing a short corner, a give-and-go between Francesca Martella to Annika Gerdau into the left corner set up Maria Alonso for the go-ahead header in the middle of the box to set the score to 1-0.
  • Southwestern Christian's only on-target scoring chance in the entire contest came in the 13^th minute on a weakly-placed on-frame shot by Abbigail Johnson that was scooped up by Rachel Torres.
  • Madison Chavez got a pair of on-target tries in the 14^th and 18^th minutes that were saved by Southwestern Christian (2-7-4, 1-6 SAC) goalkeeper Marta Papandrea before the Evangels came away with their second goal.
  • On MACU's second scoring play of the contest in the 20^th minute, Gerdau from the right-side corner kick perfect lofted the long ball into the left side of the box that was headed in by Martella to wrap-up the scoring at 2-0.
  • Mid-America Christian's next best scoring chance came in the 31^st minute when the Evangels quickly returned a goal kick back the other direction. After dispossessing the Eagles, Alissa Taylor delivered a pass to Dani Duke just outside the 18-yard box. She took a strong strike that pinged off the top right corner of the crossbar.
• Second Half
  • The Evangels offensively were only able to put shots on-frame in the 56^th and 71^st minutes from Gladis Avalos and Deborah Silveira, but neither were much of a threat for Papandrea.
  • Southwestern Christian's most threatening chance of the contest came off a foul just outside the left side of the 18-yard box in the 79^th minute, setting up the Eagles for a free kick. However, Marina Angiolini's free kick try skimmed off the top of the crossbar and out for a goal kick.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian dominated the possession, outshooting Southwestern Christian 20-8 with a 7-1 edge in shots on-goal.
• Francesca Martella led MACU's offensive efforts with a goal and an assist for three points. The goal was stunningly the graduate student midfielder's first goal of the season and the ninth of her MACU career. Her assist on Maria Alonso's goal moved her back alone at the top of the team-lead with her seventh of the season.
• The goal netted for Alonso was her first goal of the season and the fourth of her Evangels career as well as her second game-winning goal.
• The two assists for Annika Gerdau were her second and third assists of the season and the 14^th of her MACU career. It is the first multi-assist game for Gerdau since tallying a pair in a 5-0 win against Central Christian on Oct. 1, 2022.
• With their assists in the outing, both Gerdau and Martella moved into a six-way tie for sixth in MACU's NAIA Era career record book, needing only one more to join Liz Lozano (2018-20) for fifth.
• By getting the win in-goal, Rachel Torres became just the third 25-game winner in-goal for the Evangels in the NAIA Era while the clean sheet went down as the 12^th of her career, moving her into a tie for the third-most with Kaitlyn Whitten (2013-15).
• With the victory, Mid-America Christian remained unbeaten all-time against Southwestern Christian, improving to 15-0-1 since first facing the Eagles in 2010. The Evangels will wrap-up the regular season unbeaten at the Dill Soccer Field, going 8-0-1 at home so far this season.
• The win allowed MACU to stay in a tie with No. 23 Science & Arts at the top of the SAC standings at 6-1 as well as a half-game ahead of No. 19 John Brown, who will play their next contest at Wayland Baptist on Thursday.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back on the road on Saturday as the Evangels will head back to Texas for a 5 p.m. kickoff against Nelson in Waxahachie.