No. 23 Women's Soccer Pulls Away From Mount Mercy

Marshall, Mo., (Sept. 14, 2024)- The Nationally ranked Missouri Valley College soccer teams hosted Mount Mercy (Iowa) in the opening Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader of the season inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium, Saturday afternoon.  The No. 23 women's team built up an early lead, and finished with a 5-1 win.  The No. 11 men's team held off a late rally from the Mustangs in a 3-2 victory.

The women's game started with Missouri Valley taking control of possession early.  The first chance on goal came just over seven minutes into play, as a corner from Junior Midfielder Judit Ferre (Barcelona, Spain) found Freshman Defender Lucia Torres Vizcaino (Malaga, Spain) at the far post, and Torres Vizcaino put her header into the net to send the Vikings in front, 1-0.  Ten minutes later, Junior Midfielder Madi Hudson (Sandbach, England) came close to extending the advantage, as her corner kick hit off the post.  The next quality chance came just past the midway point of the half, when Junior Forward Marlene Flores (Bolivia) had a shot saved.  With less than nine minutes remaining until the break, Missouri Valley had another opportunity, as Senior Forward Ashley Arribas (Lake Forest, Calif.) set up Junior Forward Silvia Maldonado (Madrid, Spain) with a clear shot, which got past the keeper and gave the team a 2-0 lead.  With time winding down in the half, Torres Vizcaino sent a long pass over the Mount Mercy defenders, and into the path of Fabiana Vazquez.  A breakaway chance finished with a goal from Vazquez to send the team into halftime on top, 3-0.

Play in the second half started with two quick chances created by Missouri Valley.  The first shot just over one minute after the restart from Ferre was saved, and led to a corner kick.  Hudson put the corner kick into the MMU box, and Maldonado flicked a pass to Junior Defender Marta Carrasco Mesa (Sevilla, Spain) in front of goal.  Carrasco Mesa scored on the close-range effort to make it a 4-0 advantage with less than two minutes played.  The Mustangs answered seven minutes later, and cut their deficit to 4-1.  Sophomore Goalkeeper Marina Barbara Bujalance (Cornella Llobregat, Spain) needed to make a pair of saves over the next stretch of play to hold off Mount Mercy.  The Vikings eventually put the game away, as Arribas assisted on a goal from Flores near the 76-minute mark to finish out the scoring and secure a 5-1 win for Missouri Valley.

Maldonado scored the game-winning goal, and added one assist, while Torres Vizcaino had one goal and one assist.  Vazquez, Carrasco Mesa, and Flores each netted one goal.  Arribas totaled two assists, while Barbara Bujalance, Ferre and Hudson each had one assist.  Barbara Bujalance made two saves in goal.  Missouri Valley held an 18-5 advantage in total shots, and a 7-2 edge in corner kicks.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 4-3 on the season, and 1-0 in the Heart.  Mount Mercy falls to 0-4-1 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

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.

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