The Lowdown: Friends University vs. No. 21 USAO

* NAIA National Championship First Round

Location: Columbia, Mo.

Kickoff: Nov. 21, 6:00 pm

Live Broadcast: https://columbiacougars.com/sports/2022/8/11/columbia-cougars-live-stream.aspx

Live Stats: https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/central.php?tid=1089&t=1

Flying with the Falcons (14-5-2, 9-3-1 KCAC)

Under head coach Brent Hobson, the Friends University Falcons won their first KCAC tournament championship of the modern era with a dramatic 1-0 overtime victory over the York University Panthers last Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 13) at Scheels Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita. The winning moment came Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo headed in a perfect cross from Kieley Aranda 2:38 into the first overtime period. The Falcons will carry a scoreless streak of 251:57 heading into their fourth NAIA National Championship tournament appearance in the last six seasons.

Keily Larosee leads the team with 16 scores on the season, while Ibarra-Arevalo has dished out a team-high 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 44 saves and has tabulated a sparkling 0.69 goals-against average in nearly 1,041 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 Drovers (17-2-1, 8-1 SAC)

The No. 21-ranked University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Drovers are 17-2-1 overall and tied for first in the Sooner Athletic Conference with an 8-1 mark in the league. USAO advanced to the SAC tournament title game before falling 6-2 to No. 19-ranked John Brown University.

The Drovers are led by 18 goals from Daniela Salinas, while Ilse de Jong has scored 14 goals with eight assists. Ashlee Davison has recorded a team-high 10 assists on the season for USAO.

Ashlyn Lonberg is the Drovers' primary goalkeeper and has made 46 saves with a 1.07 GAA in 1508:22 in the net.

The Series: The Falcons and Drovers last met in 2019, with USAO coming out on top 5-0 in Chickasha, Okla. Friends is 2-7-1 vs. USAO since 2004 and has dropped three straight meetings, last coming out on top 2-1 in Wichita during the 2015 season. This is the first neutral site matchup on record between the two schools.

All-KCAC recognition: The Falcons landed seven on the All-KCAC list, led by Keily Larosee's first-team recognition. Lauryn Erickson and Kylie Lewis were second-team selections, while Gianna Honda, Pilar Flores, Faith Smith and Nia Baker each earned honorable-mention recognition. Read the full release HERE!

Academic Excellence: Kieley Aranda, Kylie Lewis, Lauryn Erickson, Pilar Flores, Faith Smith and Gianna Honda each earned Academic All-District recognition, as selected by the College Sports Communicators. Check the full release HERE!

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 5-2-2. The Falcons' 2-1 win over Saint Mary in the KCAC quarterfinal round (Nov. 5) was the first time all season they rallied to win after facing a deficit at the half.

The Coaches:

Brent Hobson is in 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 four national appearances in the past six years with this most recent national berth.

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.

Niall Crick is in his second season as head coach of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Drovers women's soccer program.

Crick has been a mainstay at USAO, having served on the women's soccer coaching staff since 2012.  He has been a part of a lot of success for the Drovers, helping the team to six NAIA National Championship Tournament appearances along with eight SAC titles prior to taking the head coaching position.

A decorated collegiate player for the Drovers, Crick was inducted into the USAO Athletic Hall of Fame in January of 2019.

Women's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 14-5-2

KCAC: 9-3-1

Home: 6-1-1

Away: 7-4

Neutral: 1-0-1

Scoring one goal: 5-1

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: 5-2-2

Leading in shots-on-goal: 11-2

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

Shots-on-goal are even: 1-0

Up Next: With a victory over USAO, the Falcons would match up against bracket host and No. 8-ranked Columbia College on Saturday (Nov. 23) at 1 pm with a berth to the final site in Pensacola, Fla. on the line.