WINFIELD, Kan. – In its first road contest of the season, the MACU women's soccer team dominated every facet of the game as the Evangels cruised to a 4-0 victory over Southwestern at the Richard L. Jantz Stadium on Saturday night.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• 2^nd Half – MACU – 56:17 – Goal: Annika Gerdau (1); Assist: Francesca Martella – MACU 1, SWC 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 79:10 – Goal: Stephanie Arrivillaga (3) – MACU 2, SWC 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 85:04 – Goal: Brae Baker (1); Assist: Jasie Eischen – MACU 3, SWC 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 86:54 – Goal: Gladis Avalos (1); Assist: Francesca Martella – MACU 3, SWC 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Southwestern put together the first strong scoring opportunity of the contest when Teagan Smith broke into the right side of the box and fired a one-timer toward the right post, but MACU goalkeeper Rachel Torres snared the save shot right at her to keep the Moundbuilders off the board.
  • Just a minute later, Mid-America Christian had its first great chance when Brae Baker rifled a strong shot from the left side of the box toward the crossbar, but SC goalkeeper Hayden Clark made an incredible leaping save on the attempt toward the top left corner to keep it a scoreless game.
  • Mid-America Christian dominated the possession for the remainder of the half as the Evangels outshot Southwestern 13-2 with an 8-2 margin in shots on-goal, however MACU was unable to put a quality strike on-goal that would be able to get passed Clark as the two teams went into the half with a scoreless draw.
• Second Half
  • Mid-America Christian had some great first chances in the first 10 minutes, the best being when Jasie Eischen was able to get open in the middle from 35-yards out, but Clark was able to push the shot toward top right over the crossbar for a corner kick in the 51^st minute.
  • Despite putting a slew of shots on-goal previously, the Evangels were finally able to find the back of the net in the 57^th minute when Francesca Martella delivered a through ball from the midfield to Annika Gerdau on the left side of the box, who launched a deep 20-yard strike toward the top right out of the reach of the keeper to make it a 1-nil game.
  • Within the 64^th minute, MACU had a golden opportunity to add to it when a deep send down the middle of the field was flicked to Brae Baker for a wide-open one-on-one with the keeper. However, Clark continued to be a thorn in the Evangels' side as she made a stellar diving save on the low liner toward the right post to keep it a one-goal game.
  • 67^th minute, Madison Chavez got a golden opportunity for the second score when a deep cross from the right side found her wide open on the left side of the 18-yard box. However, the power shot toward top left was once again saved by Clark to continue to hold the score at 1-nil.
  • In the final 11 minutes, Mid-America Christian put together a scoring onslaught. It all started with Stephanie Arrivillaga, who for the second time in three days put a left side corner over the leaping keeper into the back of the net with 10:21 to go, making it a 2-0 game.
  • Entering into the 85^th minute, Brae Baker netted her first goal as an Evangel. After a top right shot by Gladis Avalos was pushed over the bar by the keeper, Jasie Eischen was set up with taking a right-side corner. While the send into the middle was briefly cleared back out toward Eischen in the right side, she lofted a ball back into the box that found Baker on the left side as she took a short dribble back and powered a short shot into the right side to set the score to 3-0
  • A minute-and-a-half later, Gladis Avalos put across her first goal of the season off another Martella assist to wrap-up the scoring at 4-0 with 3:04 remaining in the match.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian absolutely peppered the Southwestern defense with an astounding 30-2 margin in total shots with a 22-2 edge in shots on-goal.
• Goal scoring was spread across the board as Annika Gerdau was credited with the game-winner, marking her third career winner as well as the 10^th of her three-year MACU tenure. Stephanie Arrivillaga also notched her third goal of the last three days.
• Brae Baker paced the MACU offensive attack by not only scoring her first career take, but also getting off an incredible 11 shots, eight of which were on-target.
• Last season's SAC Newcomer of the Year, Gladis Avalos tallied her eighth career goal to wrap-up the scoring.
• Francesca Martella was credited with two assists for the match, marking her eighth and ninth career dimes and the first time in her three-year MACU career that she recorded a pair in the same game.
• Jasie Eischen also notched her first assist of the season and the fifth of her three-year Evangels tenure.
• Rachel Torres improved to 2-0 on the season while notching a pair of saves for her sixth career clean sheet.
• The victory for the Evangels marked their 12^th consecutive win over Southwestern while the two teams met for the first time in seven seasons.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will play its third game in six days with a Labor Day home contest on Monday as the Evangels will host Williams Baptist for a noon kickoff at the Dill Soccer Field.