No. 22 Women's Soccer Pulls Away in Second Half in Win Over Culver-Stockton

Marshall, Mo., (Sept. 28, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's soccer teams hosted Culver-Stockton (Mo.) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader, Saturday evening, inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium.  The No. 22 women's team pulled away for a 5-0 victory, while the No. 10 men's team overcame an early deficit to win, 3-1.

Missouri Valley held the better of possession at the start of the women's game, producing multiple shots on goal through the opening 16-minutes of play.  The first shot came with eight minutes off the clock, as the attempt from Freshman Midfielder Fabiana Vasquez (Isla Margarita, Venezuela) was saved, followed four minutes later by an attempt from Junior Forward Silvia Maldonado (Madrid, Spain) that was also saved.  With the game approaching the 14-minute mark, Junior Midfielder Judit Ferre (Barcelona, Spain) sent a corner kick to the near post of the Culver-Stockton goal.  Maldonado was the first player to the ball, and put a shot past the Wildcat keeper to send MVC in front, 1-0.  Less than two minutes later, Ferre added to the Viking advantage, off an assist from Senior Forward Miriam Aldalbo Alguero (Mequinenza, Spain), to make it a 2-0 score.  Culver-Stockton responded quickly after the second MissourI Valley goal, and forced Sophomore Goalkeeper Marina Barbara Bujalance (Cornella Llobregat, Spain) into the first save of the game.  With nearly 20-minutes off the clock, Junior Midfielder Carla Carmona (Barcelona, Spain) tested the CSC keeper, who made another save.  The two teams traded possession over a long stretch of play in the half, with only one more quality chance created by Missouri Valley.  In the closing moments, Junior Forward Viktoria Einsbor (Havdrup, Denmark) put a shot on goal, but the Wildcat keeper made another save, and the MVC went into halftime on top, 2-0.

Play after the restart featured an early chance on goal for Missouri Valley, as a shot from Junior Midfielder Madi Hudson (Sandbach, England) was saved just over two minutes into second half action.  With just over 15-minutes played, Culver-Stockton was called for a foul in its box, resulting in a penalty kick for MissourI Valley.  However, the attempt from Junior Defender Marta Carrasco Mesa (Sevilla, Spain) was saved, as was the rebound attempt.  The Vikings drew another foul one minute after the missed attempt, and Ferre took a free kick from 25-yards out of goal.  The free kick sailed towards goal, and was deflected into the net off the CSC keeper to extend the lead to 3-0.  Junior Midfielder Serena Abe (Mesquite, Texas) tacked on another goal, coming at the 68-minute mark to put the advantage at 4-0.  The Vikings tacked on one more late goal, coming from Junior Defender Zoe Christofaro (Tucson, Ariz.), off an Abe assist, and Missouri Valley finished out the 5-0 victory.

Ferre finished with two goals and one assist, and now has four goals, six assists and 14 points on the season.  Maldonado scored the second goal and second game-winning goal of the season.  Abe added one goal and one assist and Zoe Christofaro had one goal.  Aldabo Alguero had one assist.  Barbara Bujalance made one save as the team secured its fourth shutout of the season.  Missouri Valley held a 19-2 advantage in shots and a 7-2 edge in corner kicks.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 6-3-1 overall and 3-0-1 in the Heart.  Culver-Stockton drops to 6-3-1 on the season and 1-3 in the conference.

The men's game started with Missouri Valley creating the better opportunities on goal.  Senior Defender Jacob Adams (Nottingham, England) put a shot on target with just over 11-minutes played, and Senior Defender Kazuki Hashimoto (Yokohama, Japan) added another shot on goal near the 14-minute mark, but both attempts were saved.  Senior Midfielder Malik Hasanovic (Skopje, North Macedonia) had a shot saved by the Culver-Stockton keeper midway through the half, to keep the contest scoreless.  Hasanovic came close again five minutes later, as his shot hit off the post.  The Wildcats took advantage of an opportunity with just over eight minute to play in the first half, as the team's first shot on goal went into the net, and put the team in front, 1-0.  The Vikings responded minutes later, as Junior Defender Lazar Ziric (Belgrade, Serbia) set up Adams in front of the Culver-Stockton goal to tie the game at 1-1.  Missouri Valley continued to put pressure on the CSC defenders with time winding down in the half.  Eventually, Adams and Hashimoto worked together to set up Senior Midfielder Yoshiki Igarashi (Tokyo, Japan) with a shot, that went just inside the right post and into goal to move MVC ahead, 2-1, in the closing moments before halftime.

Culver-Stockton started the second half with the first quality chance, forcing Junior Goalkeeper Cristobal Benitez Delgado (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) into a save less than five minutes into play.  The two teams traded possession over the next several minutes, and MVC eventually built up an opportunity in the Wildcat box.  A CSC foul resulted in a penalty kick chance for Missouri Valley.  Senior Forward Sam Green (London, England) stepped up, and put his penalty shot past the keeper to give the team a 3-1 advantage with just over 13-minutes played in the half.  The Vikings limited Culver-Stockton through the rest of the game, holding the team to no shots on goal through the final 32-minutes of play.  Freshman Midfielder Rodrigo Diaz (Chicago, Ill.) came close on two occasions to extending the lead, as a shot hit the post near the 74-minute mark, then a shot of Diaz was saved in the final five minutes.  The Vikings eventually finished out a 3-1 victory.

Adams led with his first goal and first assist of the season.  Igarashi added his fourth goal, moving his point total to 14, and added a second game-winning goal.  Green has scored in five-straight games, moving his total to nine goals and 20 points this season.  Hashimoto registered his second assist, and Ziric added his first assist this season.  Benitez Delgado made one save.  Missouri Valley held a 17-5 advantage in shots and an 8-0 edge in corner kicks.

The win moves the Vikings to 7-1-1 overall and 4-0 in the Heart.  Culver-Stockton drops to 0-7-3 on the season and 0-4 in the Heart.

Up next, the Viking soccer teams travel to Olathe, Kan., for a Heart doubleheader against Nationally ranked teams from MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Wednesday.  The No. 22 women's team plays No. 19 MNU at 1 p.m., and the No. 10 men's team plays the No. 19 Pioneers at 3:30 p.m.

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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.