NORMAN, Okla. – Despite needing to play away from the home confines of the Dill Soccer Field due to wet field conditions, the third-seed MACU Women's Soccer faced little trouble against No. 6 seed Texas Wesleyan at the Community Christian School Sports Complex on Tuesday night as the Evangels came away with the 3-0 victory in the Sooner Athletic Conference Quarterfinal.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – MACU – 2:33 – Goal: Annika Gerdau (3), Assist: Francesca Martella – MACU 1, TXWES 0
• 1^st Half – MACU – 4:28 – Goal: TXWES Own Goal – MACU 2, TXWES 0
• 1^st Half – MACU – 31:23 – Goal: Brae Baker (14), Assist: Annika Gerdau – MACU 3, TXWES 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (14-2-2) scored early and often in the opening round of the tourney. Set up with a right-side corner kick in the third minute. Annika Gerdau played a short corner to Francesca Martella, who relayed back to Gerdau cutting to the top right corner of the 18-yard box. She then rifled a 16-yard low liner toward the bottom right that hooked away and under the keeper to make it a 1-0 game.
  • Just two minutes later, the Evangels added to it. After a takeaway in the midfield, Brae Baker relayed a well-placed through-ball down the right side for Caitlin Hirst on the run. Sending a perfectly placed cross toward Gladis Avalos breaking in toward the six-yard box, a Rams defender slid in to try and knock the ball away, but instead put it into their own goal, stretching the advantage to 2-0.
  • Brae Baker nearly ended up in the scoring column in the 10^th minute when she managed to tackle the ball away on a bad touch by a TXWES defender at the edge of the 18-yard box and screamed an 18-yard line drive that unfortunately ricochet off the crossbar and out for a goal kick.
  • In the 32^nd minute, Baker did finally end up in the scoring column when Baker was able to take the ball away from a Rams defender on the right sideline before cutting in toward the right side of the 18-yard box. Crossing it to the left for Gerdau, the graduate student forward heel flicked back to Baker cutting in behind her, Baker put a strong 18-yard strike from the top of the penalty box toward the bottom right corner to wrap-up the scoring at 3-nil.
  • Texas Wesleyan (4-11-3) had its best scoring chance come in the 42^nd minute when a MACU foul set up the Lady Rams with a 40-yard free kick from the left side taken by Bailey Clark. Her launched floater into the box bounced off the crossbar before McKenzie Allen was able to field the loose ball into the left side of the box as her partially deflected put-back attempt from 18-yards out pinged off the left post.
• Second Half
  • Both teams struggled to find quality scoring chances in the second half as Francesca Martella had the two best chances from distance in the 51^st and 53^rd minutes, but TXWES keeper Ally Kolba was able to make two solid saves to keep MACU from expanding its lead.
  • Texas Wesleyan was only able to put one shot on-goal in the entire contest and it came from long distance from Mikayla Trevino toward the left post in the 89^th minute. However, MACU keeper Rachel Torres made a strong diving save and was able to pounce on the rebound before the Rams could collapse on it to secure the 3-0 final.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian thoroughly dominated the possession, outshooting Texas Wesleyan 21-9 with a dominant 11-1 edge in shots on-goal.
• Annika Gerdau recorded her second three-point game of the season as she netted her third goal, all of which have been game-winners while her assist marked her fifth of the season and the 16^th of her MACU career, moving her into a tie with Marga Franco (2019-21) for the fourth-most assists in the NAIA Era.
• Francesca Martella also continued her ascent up MACU's assists list with her eighth dime of the year and the 15^th of her three-year Evangels tenure. With both marks, Martella sits in sixth on both the single-season and career assists charts.
• Brae Baker also broke into MACU's single-season top 10 with her 14^th goal of the year, moving her into a six-way tie for the ninth-most on the list. With her 35^th point, Baker also moves into a tie for ninth on the single-season points list.
• Needing to make just one save in the contest, Rachel Torres continued to leave her legendary marks on MACU's goalkeeping record book. Torres moved into a three-way tie for the single season goalkeeping wins while her eighth shutout tied Jennifer Starwalt (2019).
• With the victory, MACU has now won seven-straight games against Texas Wesleyan while improving to 10-5 all-time against the Lady Rams.
• MACU played its second game ever at the CCS Sports Complex with the last time MACU playing at the venue came in a dominant 15-0 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Oct. 26, 2019.
• Mid-America Christian is advancing to the SAC Semifinal for the fifth-time in the last six years.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be seeking to get revenge for an earlier season loss on Friday as the Evangels head down to Chickasha, Oklahoma on Friday with a rematch against No. 23 Science & Arts in the SAC Semifinal. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at McLaughlin Field.