Women’s Soccer Blanked by (10) OKWU

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avila women's soccer welcomed the KCAC's top team, (10) Oklahoma Wesleyan, to The Z on Wednesday afternoon, and the Eagles from Oklahoma (7-1-1, 5-0 KCAC) lived up to the billing as one of the NAIA's top squads, taking down the Eagles from Kansas City (3-7-0, 3-2 KCAC) by a final count of 7-0.

Avila played OKWU, unquestionably the top team in the KCAC yet again, quite tough over the first 45 minutes. The visiting Eagles got on the board through Linn Joelsson after some nice linkup play in the 26^th minute and then doubled the lead when a deep ball from Jenna Vick got top goal scorer Tania Mocholi in space for a breakaway finish in the 39^th minute. Aside from those two moments, Avila held Oklahoma Wesleyan at bay, receiving some solid individual defensive performances and one-on-one wins from the likes of Amaris Sigler, Brooke Clark and Korynn Peregrine.

After halftime, however, Oklahoma Wesleyan took full control. Mikayla VanBlaricom made it 3-0 six minutes into the second half, then Mocholi, the league's leading scorer and early KCAC Player of the Year frontrunner, scored a goal off a free kick and assisted another off a corner to make it 5-0. Maranda Skinner scored twice in garbage time to put a bow on the win for Oklahoma Wesleyan.

Hope Hines and Maddylen Farris had the shots on goal for Avila, and Kenan Ebel made four saves; Mocholi finished with two goals and two assists.

The road gets much smoother in the KCAC for Avila now that OKWU is out of the way in this regular season. Up next, Avila will make the long trip out to York, Nebraska to face the Panthers this Saturday, September 30. The women's match kicks off the doubleheader at 1 PM, with the men to follow at 3:30; as always, you can watch all the action on the KCAC Network.