The Lowdown: York University vs. Friends University

* KCAC Postseason Tournament Championship

Location: Scheels Stryker Sports Complex, Wichita, Kan.

Kickoff: Nov. 13, 4:00 pm

Live Broadcast: https://kcacnetwork.com/friends/

Live Stats: https://shorturl.at/NPi2G

Flying with the Falcons (13-5-2, 9-3-1 KCAC)

Friends University goalkeeper Nia Baker turned in a defining performance of her career to power the fourth-seeded Falcons to advance on penalty kicks over the No. 7-ranked and top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles last Friday evening (Nov. 8). Baker recorded a clean sheet victory with seven saves in 110 minutes in the net.  But she "saved" her best for last, stopping four of the Eagles' six penalty kick attempts. Lauryn Erickson, Elise Murrietta and Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo recorded successful PK's to help the Falcons advance.

Keily Larosee leads the team and ranks second in the KCAC with 16 scores on the season, while Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo is tied for third in the league with six assists. Kieley Aranda ranks second on the Falcons with five goals following her two-goal effort in a 2-0 victory at Kansas Wesleyan University (Oct. 26).

Nia Baker has recorded 42 saves and ranks third in the KCAC with a 0.76 goals-against average in over 948 minutes at goalkeeper. Morgan Wilkinson has also made 40 saves with a 1.55 GAA in nearly 872 minutes in the net.

Dish on the Panthers (9-6-5, 5-4-4 KCAC)

The fifth-seeded York University Panthers took a similar route to the KCAC championship match by advancing on PK's over the second-seeded Avila University Eagles on Friday. Harumi Cornejo stopped four shots and Gracie Reynolds had the only goal for York.

Reynolds is the Panthers' offensive anchor this season with 13 goals and three assists, with Laia Gallego Balado adding six goals and recording four assists. Zippora Nigg has four goals with five assists, while Sofia Villa Monterd has also dished out five helpers.

Harumi Cornejo has made 74 saves in the net this season for York and is second in the KCAC with an 0.68 GAA.

The Series: The Falcons defeated York 1-0 earlier this season on Senior Day (Oct. 19) and are 7-2-3 vs. the Panthers since 2010, with a 5-1-2 record in Wichita during that stretch.

Net Defenders: Two of the top three goalkeepers in the conference will be on display in the KCAC championship match between the Falcons and Panthers. York's Harumi Cornejo is second in the league with an 0.68 GAA, while the Falcons' Nia Baker is right behind in third with an 0.76 GAA.

National Contenders: With a win over York in the KCAC championship match, the Falcons would clinch their fourth NAIA National Championship tournament appearance in the last six seasons after failing to qualify the previous 15 seasons.

Just Take Me Half the Way: The Falcons have won all eight matches when holding a lead at halftime but are 1-3 when trailing at the break.  When the match is tied at halftime, the Falcons now have a record of 4-2-2. The Falcons' 2-1 win over Saint Mary last Tuesday evening (Nov. 5) in the quarterfinals was the first time all season they rallied to win after facing a deficit at the half.

The Coaches:

Brent Hobson enters his 11th season leading the Falcons women's soccer team for the 2024 season.

After failing to qualify for the NAIA National Tournament for 15 seasons, Hobson has now guided the Falcons to three national appearances in the past five years.

The Falcons recorded a 13-5-4 record last season and their first conference unbeaten season (10-0-3) in the modern era that resulted in a second-place finish in the KCAC and another berth into the NAIA National Tournament. The 13 victories in 2023 also represented the Falcons' third-straight double-digit victory season.

In 2021, Hobson coached the Falcons to a runner-up regular season finish in the conference and mentored KCAC Freshman of the Year Keily Larosee and the league's top newcomer Elyssa Salazar.

Hobson guided the Falcons to a breakthrough 2019 campaign, finishing second in the league and advancing to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in 15 years to earn KCAC Coach of the Year honors.  He coached eight All-KCAC performers that season, including two-time Goalkeeper of the Year Lauren Ferguson while guiding the team to the conference tournament championship game.

Greg Reynolds is the head coach of the York University women's soccer program. Before becoming head coach, Reynolds was an assistant coach for the Panthers men's and women's soccer teams.

Reynolds was a first-team all-conference player for the York men's soccer program and played for the Panthers from 1996-99. His playing career also includes the Wichita Jets, a semi-professional team in the PDL.

Women's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 13-5-2

KCAC: 9-3-1

Home: 6-1-1

Away: 7-4

Neutral: 0-0-1

Scoring one goal: 4-1

Scoring two goals: 5-0

Scoring three goals: 1-0

Scoring 4+ goals: 3-0

Allowing one goal: 3-1

Allowing two goals: 1-1

Allowing three goals: 0-1

Allowing 4+ goals: 0-2

Leading at halftime: 8-0

Trailing at halftime: 1-3

Tied at halftime: 4-2-2

Leading in shots-on-goal: 10-2

Trailing in shots-on-goal: 2-3-2

Shots-on-goal are even: 1-0