OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Women's Soccer team scored at will in its Senior Night match at the Dill Soccer Field on Tuesday night as the Evangels cruised to a 7-0 victory over Texas Wesleyan to wrap-up Sooner Athletic Conference play.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 7, Texas Wesleyan 0
  • Mid-America Christian (10-3-3, 5-1-3 SAC)
  • Texas Wesleyan (3-11-2, 1-8 SAC)

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – MACU – 9:40 – Goal: Brae Baker (10), Assist: Abby Sonne – MACU 1, TXWES 0
• 1^st Half – MACU – 11:17 – Goal: Caitlin Hirst (5), Assists: Deborah Silveira, Liv Houlston – MACU 2, TXWES 0
• 1^st Half – MACU – 29:47 – Goal: Brae Baker (11), Assist: Caitlin Hirst – MACU 3, TXWES 0
• 1^st Half – MACU – 32:15 – Goal: Brae Baker (12), Assist: Kealy Juarez – MACU 4, TXWES 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 51:38 – Goal: Maria Scopino (6), Assists: Liv Houlston, Caitlin Hirst – MACU 5, TXWES 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 56:23 – Goal: Caitlin Hirst (6), Assist: Gladis Avalos – MACU 6, TXWES 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 60:56 – Goal: Maria Scopino (7), Assist: McKenzie Simon – MACU 7, TXWES 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • While Mid-America Christian was only able to get one shot off through the first nine minutes, Brae Baker took advantage of MACU's second opportunity when Abby Sonne dribbled through a pair of TXWES defenders before delivering a perfect deep ball for Baker on the run. With a one-on-one with the keeper, Baker dribbled to her right around the sliding keeper before tapping in the go-ahead to make it a 1-0 game.
  • Just a minute-and-a-half later, MACU added to its advantage when Liv Houlston delivered a left side cross to the right boundary that Deborah Silveira sensationally kept in. She then found Caitlin Hirst wide open in the middle of the box, punching it into the open left side to set the score to 2-0.
  • About 20 minutes later, Hirst also got involved in the distribution game when she split a pair of defender and somehow got a pass by another defender to Baker, who rifled a long distance 30-yard strike toward the bottom right post to stretch the advantage to 3-0.
  • In the 33^rd minute, Baker notched her first career hat trick when Hirst's right side cross got deflected in the box, but ended right to the foot of Kealy Juarez. She tapped it back to Baker outside of the box and slid a slow-roller that slipped through the defense and past the keeper, sending MACU into the break with a 4-0 lead.
• Second Half
  • The offensive onslaught continued in the second half when Maria Scopino found her first score of the contest in the 52^nd minute. Played off a short corner, Hirst tapped it back to Liv Houlston, who delivered a perfect ball in the box for Scopino, who headed it toward the top left off the hand of the keeper and in, setting it to 5-0.
  • Hirst then turned in her second-straight brace with a breakaway score in the 57^th minute when a giveaway ended up at the foot of Gladis Avalos, who perfect fed a cross to Hirst breaking into the right side of the box, she slid her shot past the keeper toward the left post, making it a 6-nil contest.
  • The third player to notch a brace in the game, Scopino closed out her night with a second score in the 61^st minute. On the play, McKenzie Simon delivered a well-placed ball in the middle of the box that bounced over a pair of players to Scopino on the right side of the penalty, sending a strong strike into the goal to wrap-up the 7-0 final.

MATCH SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian downright dominated the possession, outshooting Texas Wesleyan 26-12 with a commanding 15-5 difference in shots on-goal. The seven-goal differential was MACU's largest margin of victory ever against the Lady Rams.
• It was a career night for junior forward Brae Baker, who recorded her first career hat trick with three goals on seven shots, five of which were on-goal. She is the first Evangel to record a hat trick since Gladis Avalos scored a trio in a 5-1 road win at the University of the Southwest on Sept. 2, 2023.
• With her trio of goals, Baker moved into a three-way tie for the SAC lead in goals scored with 12
• After being named the SAC Offensive Player of the Week with her two-goal performance against No. 10 John Brown on Saturday, Caitlin Hirst continued her hot streak with a Senior Night performance for the ages, tallying six points on two goals and two assists with both of her shots finding the back of the net.
• Senior midfielder Maria Scopino recorded her first career brace while moving into second on the team in goals scored with seven on the year.
• For the second time this season, Liv Houlston notched a pair of assists, extending her team-lead to seven on the season.
• Three seniors recorded assists in their Senior Night match with Gladis Avalos, Deborah Silveira, and McKenzie Simon each notching a dime. For Avalos and Silveira, it was their third assists for the season while Simon became the 15^th Evangel to record an assist.
• Ariana Solorio posted her third shutout of the season in-goal after finishing with five relatively safe saves to improve her record to 6-2-3.
• With the victory, MACU improved to 11-5 all-time against Texas Wesleyan since first facing the Lady Rams in 2007.
• The win allowed the Evangels to briefly move into third in the SAC standings with 18 points after Oklahoma City fell to No. 10 John Brown 1-0 on Tuesday night. The Stars with 16 points still will play their season finale at Central Christian on Friday.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will wrap-up the regular season with a non-conference match at Hesston on Friday. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. at Sieber Field.