Mid-America Christian University

OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Women's Soccer team came back from 3-0 down at halftime for the first time in program history in a 4-3 win against Concordia on Alumni Day highlighted by Brae Baker's 89^th minute winner on Saturday afternoon.  

SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 4, Concordia 3
  • Mid-America Christian: 2-0
  • Concordia (Neb.): 0-2

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – CUNE – 7:25 – Goal: Sadie Mares (1) – MACU 0, CUNE 1
• 1^st Half – CUNE – 31:47 – Goal: Guadalupe Sanchez (1) – MACU 0, CUNE 2
• 1^st Half – CUNE – 34:03 – Goal: Molli Kalsbeck (1) – Assist: Kyana Rios – MACU 0, CUNE 3
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 50:02 – Goal: Stephanie Arrivillaga (1) – MACU 1, CUNE 3
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 70:38 – Goal: Brae Baker (1) – Assist: Liv Houlston – MACU 2, CUNE 3
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 77:37 – Goal: Lexi Swetz (1) – Assist: Stephanie Arrivillaga – MACU 3, CUNE 3
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 88:30 – Goal: Brae Baker (2) – Assist: Rosina Mastro, Madison Chavez – MACU 4, CUNE 3

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • MACU started the match on the front foot with an early shot on goal coming from Brae Baker resulting in a corner kick. However, Concordia opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a long-range effort that snuck just underneath Niamh Taylor's crossbar.
  • The Evangels responded well with a good spell of possession that resulted in 10 shots, three on target, and five corners before the Bulldogs registered any attacking statistic.
  • Two quick Concordia goals on the counterattack in two-minute spurt had the Evangels down 3-0 with 15 minutes to play in the opening half.
  • Liv Houlston fired one more shot on goal before the halftime whistle which forced the save, but the MACU halftime deficit was 3-0.
• Second Half
  • Head Coach Anthony Yousey introduced an important substitute to start the second half with Stephanie Arrivillaga into the midfield who didn't register a single minute in the first half. Arrivillaga rifled a shot from a direct free kick into the top right corner in the 51^st minute to put MACU on the board.
  • The Evangels turned up the pressure from there with one-way traffic the opening 20 minutes of the half. Waves of corner kicks and shots were fired on the Bulldog goal and nothing came of it. In the 71^st minute, MACU came up with a timely turnover in the midfield as the ball fell to Liv Houlston. She played a perfectly weighted pass into the run of Brae Baker who snuck it inside the post from distance to cut the deficit down to one.
  • Just seven minutes later, Arrivillaga swung in a perfect ball from the corner kick that found the head of freshman Lexi Swetz at the back post who headed in the point-blank equalizer.
  • The game opened as Concordia started to attack as its lead quickly vanished. The Bulldogs forced a save out of Niamh Taylor in the 83^rd minute. However, it was MACU who found the late winner to complete the miraculous comeback as Brae Baker scored the scrappy goal inside the attacking box that just crept over the line in the 89^th minute.

MATCH NOTES

• MACU dominated the attacking statistics with a 30-12 shot margin and 15-6 shots on goal. The Evangels also created 12 corner kicks to the Bulldogs zero.
• After leading the team with 16 goals a season ago, Brae Baker opened her 2026 goal tally with a brace. Liv Houlston led MACU with eight assists last year as she registered her first of the season. Stephanie Arrivillaga contributed a goal and an assist in just 45 minutes. While freshman Lexi Swetz scored her first collegiate goal. Rosina Mastro and Madison Chavez combined for assisting on the 89^th minute winner.
• Niamh Taylor recorded her first save in Evangel colors and totaled three for the game.  
• The 3-0 halftime deficit is the largest halftime comeback in MACU Women's Soccer program history.
• Mid-America Christian wins the first meeting between the two teams to take a 1-0 all-time record against the Bulldogs.   

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian faces Friends for its third of five consecutive home games to start the 2026 campaign on Thursday night for a 7:30 kickoff at the Dill Soccer Field.