OKLAHOMA CITY -- After a 45-minute stalemate, the No. 14 John Brown University women's soccer team rode a trio of second-half goals to a 3-0 victory over Mid-America Christian (Okla.) on Saturday (March 20) afternoon at Evangel Field.
Freshman Ryan Winingham and senior Sienna Nealon scored 49 seconds apart, and the Golden Eagle (7-0-0, 7-0-0 Sooner Athletic) defense posted its sixth-straight clean sheet and still has not given up a goal during the run of play for the first 630:00 of the season - and has now won nine straight against Mid-America Christian.
Not to say that MACU didn't have its chances – the host Evangels (12-2-0, 6-1-0) had its eight-match win streak snapped partly due to the fact it was shutout for the first time in 14 matches. Senior keeper Caitlyn Logan made five saves, the most she's needed to make so far this year in a single match, but the horizontal piece of metal connecting the goal posts also came to her aid.
In the 28th minute, Marga Franco's free kick service into the box took one large bounce and hit the crossbar before popping back out into the box. MACU's Kelsey Henry's attempt at the rebound also hit the crossbar before Henry launched the ball over the crossbar in what was easily the Evangels' best scoring chance of the afternoon.
With a tough first half being out-shot 11-2 in the books, John Brown emerged from the intermission and pieced together a nearly flawless second half.
En route to out-shooting the hosts by a near-identical 11-3 margin, freshman Ryan Winingham's header off a Paige Kula corner service in the 61st minute broke the scoring drought for both teams. Not 50 seconds later, freshman Gifte Pavatt broke in towards MACU keeper Jennifer Starwalt that resulted in a collision. Nealon, however, managed to control the loose ball, turn, and fire a shot past the scrambling Evangel defense into the open goal to double the John Brown lead.
Both Winingham and Nealon scored their fifth goals of the season, respectively.
In the 84th, JBU's leading scorer Lauren Walter added more insurance by attacking a loose ball in the box, and knocking it in past Starwalt off a broken Kula corner service. The tally was Walter's sixth of her freshman campaign.
Kula now boasts six assists – which leads all Golden Eagles.
After both teams took one corner kick each in the first, John Brown owned a 5-0 advantage in the second half, and forced Starwalt into allowing three goals on five shots, suffering the loss. Logan's five-save effort kept her unblemished at 7-0-0.
Now a two-match homestand awaits the Golden Eagles, which kicks off on Tuesday (March 23) afternoon when JBU plays host to Southwestern A.G. (Texas) at 3 p.m. The affair is scheduled to be broadcast on the SAC Sports Network.
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