No. 20 Women's Soccer Tops Clarke at Home

Marshall, Mo., (Oct. 21, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's soccer teams hosted Clarke (Iowa) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium.  The No. 20 women's team finished off a 3-0 victory, while the No. 14 men's team topped the Pride, 3-0.  The men's team clinched at least a share of the Heart regular season championship.

The women's game started with an early chance for Missouri Valley, as Sophomore Defender Daijah White (Tucson, Ariz.) sent a throw-in towards goal, which came to Sophomore Forward Viktoria Einsbor (Havdrup, Denmark) who put her header past the Pride keeper to make it a 1-0 score with just over nine minutes played.  Moments after the restart, Einsbor nearly added another goal, as her shot hit off the post.  Junior Forward Ashley Arribas (Lake Forest, Calif.) collected the rebound, but her attempt was saved.  Arribas responded just over three minutes later, as Einsbor and Sophomore Midfielder Carla Carmona (Barcelona, Spain) set her up with a breakaway chance.  The shot from Arribas went past the keeper and into goal to extend the advantage to 2-0.  Freshman Midfielder Madi Hudson (Sandbach, England) came close to tacking on another goal just past the 15-minute mark, as the CU keeper came up with another save.  Clarke was limited through much of the half, and produced its first shot on goal, which was saved by Freshman Goalkeeper Lola Martinez Benitez (Madrid, Spain) with less than six minutes to play before the break.  Martinez Benitez made two more saves over the closing minutes of the half, and Missouri Valley went into halftime holding a 2-0 advantage.

The second half opened with a series of corner kicks produced by the Vikings.  The third corner kick resulted in White putting a shot off the crossbar.  The rebound was collected close to goal by Freshman Forward Julia Richardson (Ashland, Mo.) who scored from the opportunity, and moved the lead to 3-0 with eight minutes played in the half.  Missouri Valley produced three more shots on goal through the rest of the contest, including two chances from Sophomore Midfielder Judit Ferre (Barcelona, Spain) and one shot on goal from Einsbor that were all saved.  Clarke was limited on opportunities in the half and was unable to create a chance on goal.  The Vikings closed out a 3-0 victory.

Einsbor scored one goal and added one assist.  She now has six goals, two assists and two game-winning goals on the season.  Arribas added her team-leading eleventh goal, and Richardson scored her second goal.  Carmona tied the team-lead with her fourth assist, and White registered her first assist.  Martinez Benitez made three saves and now has four shutouts on the season.  Missouri Valley held a 16-4 advantage in shots and earned four corner kicks.

The win moves the Vikings to 9-4-2 on the season and 8-1 in the Heart.  Clarke drops to 9-4-3 overall and 4-4-1 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking soccer teams host Graceland (Iowa) for Senior Night, Tuesday, inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium.  Women's game at 5 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.

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.