The Lowdown: University of Saint Mary at Friends University

* KCAC Postseason Tournament Quarterfinal

Location: Adair-Austin Stadium, Wichita, Kan.

Kickoff: Nov. 5, 6:30 pm

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

Live Stats: https://friendsathletics.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary

Flying with the Falcons (12-5-1, 9-3-1 KCAC)

Keily Larosee helped the Falcons close out the 2024 regular season in style by scoring the only two goals of the match in a 2-0 victory over the Bethany College Swedes Saturday night (Nov. 2). The match was played at Stryker Sports Complex due to inclement weather in the Wichita area. Friends enters the KCAC postseason tournament as the fourth seed with a 9-3-1 conference record.

Larosee leads the team and ranks second in the KCAC with 14 scores on the season, while Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo is tied for third in the league with six assists. Kieley Aranda now ranks second on the Falcons with five goals following her two-goal effort in a 2-0 victory at Kansas Wesleyan University (Oct. 26).

Morgan Wilkinson has made 40 saves with a 1.55 goals-against-average in nearly 872 minutes and Nia Baker has recorded 34 saves with an 0.84 GAA in over 748 minutes in the net for the Falcons.  Baker's 0.84 GAA currently ranks third in the KCAC.

Dish on the Spires (10-7-1, 8-5 KCAC)

The University of Saint Mary Spires closed the regular season with three straight wins to come in as the fifth seed in the conference tourney with an 8-5 mark in the KCAC.

Rebecca Lord has scored a team-leading nine goals on the season for the Spires, with Josie Hallier and Nanako Hallier each chipping in with six scores. Distribution has been a team effort, with Saint Mary getting two assists from four different players.  

Marisol Vargas has started all 18 matches at goalkeeper for Saint Mary and has recorded a 1.49 GAA with a KCAC-leading 109 saves.

The Series: The Falcons have dominated recent history vs. the Spires, going 15-4-3 since 2004. The Falcons also boast an 8-2-2 mark against the Spires in Wichita during that stretch. Friends won 1-0 at Saint Mary earlier this season and is 9-0-1 in the past 11 matches.

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.

Justin Seever is in his 12^th season as head coach of the University of Saint Mary women's soccer team. Before assuming the head coaching position, Seever had been the top assistant for both the men's and women's teams since 2008.

Seever played collegiately for both Saint Mary and Neosho County CC. At Neosho County, Seever helped the program go from one win as a freshman to a then-school record 10 wins the next season.

Just Take Me Half the Way: The Falcons have won all eight matches when holding a lead at halftime but are 0-3 when trailing at the break.  When the match is tied at halftime, the Falcons have a record of 4-2-1.

Women's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 12-5-1

KCAC: 9-3-1

Home: 5-1-1

Away: 7-4

Scoring one goal: 4-1

Scoring two goals: 4-0

Scoring three goals: 1-0

Scoring 4+ goals: 3-0

Allowing one goal: 2-1

Allowing two goals: 1-1

Allowing three goals: 0-1

Allowing 4+ goals: 0-2

Leading at halftime: 8-0

Trailing at halftime: 0-3

Tied at halftime: 4-2-1

Leading in shots-on-goal: 9-2

Trailing in shots-on-goal: 2-3-1

Shots-on-goal are even: 1-0