No. 24 Women's Soccer Falls Late to St. Ambrose on the Road

Davenport, Iowa, (August 21, 2024)- The No. 24 Missouri Valley College women's soccer team opened its 2024 regular season with a road non-conference game Wednesday afternoon in Davenport, Iowa, against St. Ambrose (Iowa).  Two late goals brought a 2-0 defeat for the Vikings.

St. Ambrose started the game by creating a quality chance just over one minute into play, as Sophomore Goalkeeper Marina Barbara Bujalance (Cornella Llobregat, Spain) made her first save of the contest.  The two teams traded possession over a long stretch of play, through the midway point of the half.  St. Ambrose had three shots blocked and a corner kick near the 23-minute mark, but the teams remained scoreless.  Missouri Valley was unable to create many quality chances over the next several minutes, while Barbara Bujalance was called on for another save near the 36-minute mark.  Junior Defender Marta Carrasco Mesa (Sevilla, Spain) got off a shot in the closing moments, but her shot was blocked by an SAU defender to send the teams into halftime tied at 0-0.

Play in the second half began with St. Ambrose pressuring the MVC defense, producing a blocked shot and a corner kick.  With nearly seven minutes played after the restart, the Vikings created their first shot on goal, as the attempt from Junior Forward Viktoria Einsbor (Havdrup, Denmark) was saved.  Missouri put another shot on goal near the 60-minute mark, but the attempt from Senior Forward Miriam Aldabo Alguero (Mequinenza, Spain) was saved.  The first chance on target in the half for SAU came four minutes later, and required a save from Barbara Bujalance.  The two teams traded possession over the next several minutes, until Junior Midfielder Madi Hudson (Sandbach, England) came close to breaking the deadlock with 10 minutes to play in the game, but her shot was saved.  Two minutes later, St. Ambrose came through the opening goal, moving in front, 1-0.  The deficit grew for MVC five minutes later, as a goal made it a 2-0 score.  Missouri Valley could not create a quality chance in the closing minutes of the contest, and fell by the 2-0 score line.

Barbara Bujalance made three saves in goal, while Einsbor, Aldabo Alguero and Hudson each had one shot on goal.  Missouri Valley led in total shots, by a 13-12 margin, and created two corner kicks.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 0-1, while St. Ambrose improves to 1-1.

Up next, the Viking women's soccer team travels to No. 12 Columbia, Mo., for a non-conference game with Columbia (Mo.), Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

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.