No. 20 Women's Soccer Defeats No. 16 Oklahoma Wesleyan at Home

Marshall, Mo., (Oct. 31, 2023)- The No. 20 Missouri Valley College women's soccer team hosted No. 16 Oklahoma Wesleyan in a non-conference game on Halloween to close out the regular season.  The Vikings fell behind early, but scored a pair of goals in the second half to come away with a 3-1 win.

Oklahoma Wesleyan had the better of possession early in the contest, creating the first chance on goal with just over two minutes played, which was saved by Freshman Goalkeeper Lola Benitez (Madrid, Spain).  The Eagles continued to pressure the MVC defense, and worked another chance on goal nine minutes later, and scored on the opportunity to move in front, 1-0.  Less than two minutes after the restart, Missouri Valley bounced back as a through-ball was deflected by the OKWU keeper, and into the path of Sophomore Forward Ashley Arribas (Lake Forest, Calif.), with her shot going into an empty net to tie the teams at 1-1.  The two teams struggled to put any more shots on goal through the rest of the half, and went into halftime tied.

The second half started with another quick chance on goal, this time from the Vikings, as Sophomore Defender Marta Carrasco Mesa (Sevilla, Spain) set up Sophomore Midfielder Carla Carmona (Barcelona, Spain) with a shot that beat the Oklahoma Wesleyan keeper to put the team on top, 2-1.  The Eagles came close to tying the score, as Benitez came up with another save five minutes into the half.  Benitez needed to make another save just over six minutes later.  With 13 minutes played, MVC came through with a shot that hit off the crossbar from Sophomore Forward Silvia Maldonado (Madrid, Spain).  The rebound landed to Carmona, who put her shot into the net for her second goal of the game, and to give the team a 3-1 lead.  Oklahoma Wesleyan held the better of possession through the next stretch of play, and forced Benitez into a pair of saves midway through the half.  Two more chances came from OKWU in the final three minutes of play, with both kept out of goal on saves by Benitez, and Missouri Valley finished out a 3-1 win.

Carmona led with two goals, and now has four goals and one game-winning goal on the season.  Arribas scored for the ninth-straight game, and has 16 goals on the season.  Carrasco Mesa added her third assist.  Benitez made seven saves in goal.  Missouri Valley got off eight shots and earned two corner kicks in the game.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 14-4-2 on the season, while Oklahoma Wesleyan falls to 13-2-3.

Up next, the Viking women's soccer team will be the No. 2 seed in the 2023 Heart of America Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championship, presented by WinWon Technologies.  Missouri Valley hosts No. 7 seeded Clarke (Iowa) in the quarterfinal round, Saturday at 5 p.m., inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium.  Missouri Valley defeated the Pride, 3-0, back on Oct. 21.

Box Score-Click Here

About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.