HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The MACU Women's Soccer team saw its historic season come to a tough end on Thursday night at Jerry Owens Field on the campus of William Carey University as the Evangels fell to Xavier 1-0 in the First Round of the NAIA Tournament.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• 2^nd Half – XULA – 46:57 – Goal: Luci Schroeder (14); Assist: Samira Roper – XULA 1, MACU 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Opportunities came at a premium for both teams in the first half as the only shot put on-goal for either side through the first 42 minutes came from Xavier (14-5-2) as Britni Belmonte took a long strike from 30-yards out that bounced in to Rachel Torres for an easy save in the 21^st minute.
  • Xavier had a great look at finding the potential go-ahead with another long shot from Jada Wyatt in the 39^th minute, but it sailed just barely over the right-side crossbar to keep it scoreless.
  • Mid-America Christian (14-4-2) had a strong chance just before heading into the halftime break when Brae Baker made a strong takeaway from 30-yards out with two-and-a-half minutes left before turning to her right before putting a strong right-footed strike toward the top right corner that XULA goalkeeper Theresa Wiesiolek made a strong leaping save to keep it a scoreless game going into the break.
• Second Half
  • Less than two minutes into the second half, the Golden Nuggets found the game-winner when Samira Roper was able to hit Luci Schroeder on the relay before turning to the left and rifling 24-yard left-footer from the left side inside the right post to make it a 1-0 game.
  • Mid-America Christian dominated the possession in the second half, but the only shot on-frame for MACU came in the 57^th minute off the foot of Francesca Martella off a deflected Gladis Avalos shot, however, her 26-yarder toward the left post was snared by the keeper.
  • The Evangels' best chance of the contest came in the 86^th minute when Caitlin Hirst got by her defender on the left side of the box, centered it toward Asley Baker in the left side of the box before relaying it to her sister Brae Baker on the right side. However, the reliable striker with an open chance mis-hit the 12-yard try, hitting the right-side netting of the goal as MACU would not get another chance before the end of the contest.

MATCH NOTES

• Despite the result, Mid-America Christian was able to out-shoot Xavier, who came into the match as one of the highest-powered offenses in the NAIA by a 9-8 margin, however, the Golden Nuggets were slightly more effective at putting shots on-frame by holding a 3-2 lead in that category.
• Brae Baker led MACU's offensive efforts by attempting four of its nine shots while putting one of the two it had on-frame.
• In her final game in an Evangels uniform, graduate student goalkeeper Rachel Torres suffered the loss in-goal as she conceded just one goal while making a pair of saves.
• The match marked the first time that MACU and Xavier competed against each other as the Golden Nuggets are in just their second season as a women's soccer program.
• It was officially the final collegiate match for multiple seniors that left a massive imprint on the program: Rachel Torres, Francesca Martella, Annika Gerdau, Asley Baker, Maria Alonso, Alissa Taylor, Stephany Soto, Dani Duke and Silvia Cinque.
• The 2024 season will go down as a historic one for the MACU Women's Soccer program under fourth-year head coach Anthony Yousey as it won a share of its first ever Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title while also qualifying for the NAIA Tournament for the first time in program history.