SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Five different players scored and the No. 10 John Brown University women's soccer team broke open a 1-1 second-half with four straight goals to hand Mid-America Christian a 5-1 final as the Golden Eagles secured the second seed in the Sooner Athletic tournament on Tuesday night (Nov. 5) at Alumni Field.
The loss sent MACU tumbling from second place to fourth place in the standings, and ended the Evangel's seven-match winning streak.
In consecutive matches, the Golden Eagles (12-3-2, 7-1-1 Sooner Athletic) carried a 1-0 lead into the intermission, only to see the visitors knot up the match at one apiece in the second half. On Saturday versus Southwestern Christian (Okla.), JBU failed to find a reply. Tonight, the retaliation was swift and severe.
In the 61st minute, Ariadna Ramirez sprung Marga Franco through the John Brown back line as Franco bested junior Caitlyn Logan on the ensuing one-on-one to tie the match. It took less than a minute for the hosts to respond.
Fifty-nine seconds later, senior Anne Metz headed in her 10th of the season at the right post off a lovely cross from sophomore Alair Love. Junior Vanessa Reynoso played Love into the right corner before the flick to the near post.
The game-winner was Metz's second of the season.
Just 31 seconds later, sophomore Megan Hutto broke the Evangels will when she sent a strike to the right side of the goal past keeper Jennifer Starwalt. Junior Emily Jordan's throw-in to Metz gave her space to play a ball into the box from the left side for Metz's fourth point of the night.
Then, the Golden Eagles pieced together some clinical set pieces off corner services. In the 75th and 83rd minutes, respectively, Reynoso and senior Sarah Hughes headed in volleys to blow the match open. Jordan and junior Sienna Nealon provided the perfect placements from the corner flags.
Freshman Jenna Miller's eighth of the season opened the scoring in the 13th minute when she finished off another perfect combination play up the right flank that has worked so well for the Golden Eagles this season. Love played a long crossing pass from the middle to the right side before Metz's hard pass back across the goal on the floor found Miller at the back post.
Logan needed just one save to increase her record to 12-3-2 on the season, while Starwalt was dinged with the loss despite four saves. It was the most goals MACU had conceded so far in 2019.
JBU enjoyed a lopsided 19-4 shooting advantage, with nine players recording shot attempts. Reynoso led all players with four.
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will enter the Sooner Athletic tournament with a rematch against Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 9) at 5 p.m. John Brown defeated the Pioneers 3-0 at Alumni Field back on Oct. 19.
