[Soccer] Soccer Gameday Preview: Falcons celebrate Senior Night tomorrow vs. Southwestern
Soccer Falcons look to stay unbeaten in KCAC tomorrow vs. Southwestern
The Lowdown: Southwestern College at Friends University
Location: Adair-Austin Stadium, Wichita, Kan.
Start time: Oct. 1, MSOC – 5 pm, WSOC – 7:30 pm
Live Broadcast: https://kcacnetwork.com/friends/
WSOC Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3rhayOl
MSOC Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3ftwFyz
Flying with the Women's Soccer Falcons
The Friends University Falcons continued their best conference start since 2019 with a 2-1 victory over the Bethany College Swedes Wednesday night (Sept. 28) to move to 7-2 overall and 4-0 in the KCAC. After the Swedes scored first to snap the Falcons' scoreless streak at 393:05, Natalie Amaya (JR/Wichita, Kan. ) answered less than two minutes later and Yairee Perez (SO/Arlington, Texas) delivered a goal in the 73rd minute to put the Falcons over the top.
Larosee leads the Falcons and is tied for fourth in the KCAC with seven goals this season, while Perez is now second on the team with three scores. Nakagami has dished out a team-high four assists on the season for the Falcons that is also tied for fourth in the league.
Maria Smyth (JR/Fairplay, S.C.) leads the Falcons with seven starts in the net this season, ranking third in the KCAC with a 1.23 goals-against-average along with 22 saves.
Dish on the WSOC Lady Builders
The Southwestern College Lady Builders are also unbeaten in the conference at 3-0-1 along with a 5-3-2 overall mark. The Lady Builders are coming off a scoreless tie Wednesday (Sept. 28) vs. Avila University.
The duo of Hailey Rouse (seven goals) and Keiana Jones (six goals) leads the Lady Builders offensively, with Ana Llanos recording a team-high four assists.
Mallorie Lund has been stout at goalkeeper for Southwestern this season, stopping 19 shots and posting a 1.03 GAA that is second in the KCAC.
Tantalizing Matchups: The matchup between the Friends University Falcons and Southwestern College Lady Builders will feature some of the top players in the KCAC. In the spotlight will be two of the top five goal scorers in the league in the Falcons' Keily Larosee (SO/Las Vegas, Nev.) (seven goals) and the Lady Builders' Hailey Rouse (seven goals) along with two of the top five distributors in the league in Hanon Nakagami (FR/Urayasu City, Japan) of Friends (four assists) and Ana Llanos of Southwestern (four assists). Solid goalkeeping will also be on display, as the Lady Builders' Mallorie Lund ranks second in the KCAC in GAA (1.03), followed closely by the Falcons' Maria Smyth in third (1.23 GAA).
Second Half Warriors: The Falcons have made it a trend to produce when it's needed most, as they're undefeated all six times the score is tied at halftime this season. The Falcons did it again in Wednesday night's victory over Bethany, as the match was even at 1-1 at the half until Yairee Perez scored in the 73rd minute to win it 2-1 for the Falcons.
Perfect Start: The Falcons' 2-1 win over Bethany College improves their mark to 4-0 in the KCAC, continuing their best start in the conference since the 2019 season.
Flying with the Men's Soccer Falcons
After starting the season 1-5, the Friends University Men's Soccer Falcons have picked up steam and are now 3-0-1 in the KCAC following Wednesday evening's 1-1 tie vs. Bethany College.
Zamora, the Falcons' leading goal-scorer the past three seasons, is again on top in the category with eight scores in 2022 while also dishing out a team-high four assists. He is currently second in the KCAC in both goals and points (20).
Sora Shibata (FR/Tokyo, Japan) is second on the team with four goals and Guilherme Oliveira (JR/Sao Paulo, Brazil) ranks second with three assists for the Falcons.
Felipe Garcia (FR/San Jose, Costa Rica) has started seven games this season at goalkeeper for Friends and has a 2.45 GAA and 41 saves following a career-high eight stops vs. Bethany. Garcia's 41 saves on the season are good for third in the KCAC this season.
Adrian Losa (SO/Spring, Texas) has also seen action in four matches this year, with three starts for the Falcons. Losa has made 15 stops with a 2.61 GAA.
Dish on the MSOC Moundbuilders
The Southwestern College Moundbuilders are 3-4-2 overall on the season, with an 0-2-2 mark in the KCAC following a 1-1 tie vs. Avila University Wednesday (Sept. 28).
Mamadou Diarra has been the anchor of the Builders' offense this season, scoring six of the team's eight goals thus far. Hector Hernandez has also recorded two of the team's four assists on the season.
Joshua Eibl has started eight matches at goalkeeper this season and has posted a 1.84 GAA while ranking fifth in the league with 37 saves.
Quoting Friends MSOC head coach Bryan Perez:
"A game where we honor our seniors. We need to play with energy, courage and enjoyment. We need to set a high tempo from the beginning of the game."
Save the Day: Two of the top five goalkeepers in the KCAC will square off when the Falcons face the Moundbuilders. The Falcons' Felipe Garcia ranks third in the KCAC in saves (41), while Joshua Eibl of Southwestern is fifth (37).
Golden Record: Juan Zamora (SR/LaBelle, Florida) netted his 50th career goal in the Falcons' 3-0 victory at Benedictine College earlier this season. The LaBelle, Fla. native has since added to his modern-era record and now has 56 career goals.
WSOC Series vs. Southwestern: The Falcons have won three of the past five meetings vs. Southwestern and the teams split a pair of meetings last year. Friends won the regular season tilt 1-0 in Winfield, Kan. before the Lady Builders bounced back and bested the Falcons 4-1 in the KCAC semifinal round at Stryker Complex in Wichita.
MSOC Series vs. Southwestern: The Falcons have won the past five meetings over Southwestern, including taking down the Moundbuilders 1-0 in the 2020 KCAC quarterfinal round at Stryker Complex. The Builders' last appearance in Wichita was also on Senior Night in 2019, with the Falcons coming out on top 1-0.
Women's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:
Overall: 7-2
KCAC: 4-0
Home: 4-1
Away: 3-1
When scoring one goal: 2-1
When scoring two goals: 3-1
When scoring three goals: 2-0
When scoring 4+ goals: 0-0
When allowing one goal: 2-0
When allowing two goals: 0-1
When allowing three goals: 0-0
When allowing 4+ goals: 0-1
When leading at halftime: 1-0
When trailing at halftime: 0-2
When tied at halftime: 6-0
When leading in shots-on-goal: 6-0
When trailing in shots-on-goal: 1-2
Men's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:
Overall: 4-5-1
KCAC: 3-0-1
Home: 1-3-1
Away: 3-2
When scoring one goal: 0-1-1
When scoring two goals: 0-1
When scoring three goals: 2-0
When scoring 4+ goals: 2-0
When allowing one goal: 1-0-1
When allowing two goals: 1-0
When allowing three goals: 1-2
When allowing 4+ goals: 0-2
When leading at halftime: 3-1-1
When trailing at halftime: 1-2
When tied at halftime: 0-2
When leading in shots-on-goal: 2-0
When trailing in shots-on-goal: 1-5-1
When shots-on-goal are tied: 1-0
Up Next: Both Soccer Falcon programs will be at McPherson College next Saturday night (Oct. 8). The Women's Soccer Falcons will start at 5:30 pm, followed by the Men's Soccer Falcons at 8 pm.
Catch the Men's and Women's Soccer Falcons all season long at Adair-Austin Stadium with a season-ticket package!