OKLAHOMA CITY - The Sooner Athletic Conference announced its 2025 Women's Soccer preseason poll on Tuesday and after capturing a share of the program's first regular season championship, Mid-America Christian was picked to finish third on the ranking voted upon by the league's 10 head coaches.
The Evangels finished with 64 points, placing nine points ahead of Oklahoma City (55) in fourth and 12 points in-front of Nelson (52) in fifth. John Brown was tabbed as the SAC's preseason favorite after capturing a share of the SAC regular season title with MACU and Science & Arts, receiving 81 points with nine first-place votes while the Drovers finished in second with 73 points and one first-place vote.
The Evangels are coming off one of their best seasons in program history, finishing with an overall record of 14-3-2, which includes an 8-1 record in league play to finish in a three-way tie with the Golden Eagles and Drovers for the SAC crown.
MACU captured some massive results over the course of the season, including 2-0 win over NAIA powerhouse No. 19 John Brown at the Dill Soccer Field on Oct. 8, the program's first victory over the Golden Eagles in 14 years. The Evangels also notched a huge 1-1 draw at No. 10 Columbia (Mo.) on Sept. 18 in non-conference action.
With the regular season conference title, MACU received the program's first ever bid into the NAIA National Tournament where they fell just short in a 1-0 game to Xavier (La.) in the first round.
Offensively, last year the Evangels netted 46 goals to go along with 45 assists, attempting 19 shots per game with a 49-percent shots on-goal rate..
MACU is returning its top four goal scorers from a season ago, including All-SAC First Team forward Brae Baker (14), sophomore forward Stephanie Arrivillaga (7), senior forward Gladis Avalos (5), and senior forward Deborah Silveira (5). The Evangels are also returning their First Team All-Conference defender and team captain Cammy Hargrove to continue to anchor the stellar backline.
"I think this team will be very exciting to watch with (Brae) Baker and (Gladis) Avalos back leading the front line," stated fifth-year head coach Anthony Yousey. "In addition, we've added freshman Liv Houlston from England, and freshman Alyssa Gutierrez from Wichita Falls, Texas to bring a lot of creativity and pace to our midfield. Alba Vigo will bring a lot of experience in goal transferring from an NAIA powerhouse, Columbia College."
The Evangels will kick-off their regular season on the road Thursday, August 21 at 6 p.m. as they take on Ottawa (Kan.).
