North Newton, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons battled back from an early deficit and won 3-2 at the Bethel College Threshers today (Sept. 28) in North Newton, Kan.
The Threshers took a lead at the outset when Leonie Kuhrt blasted a shot in just 17 seconds into the match.
Alex Fonseca then scored for the second straight match at the 34:15 mark to pull the Falcons into a 1-1 gridlock heading into the half.
It stayed even until Kieley Aranda put Friends on top to stay with a score in the 66th minute before Keily Larosee provided a two-goal cushion with her 50th career goal off an assist from Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo at the 79th minute mark.
Kuhrt scored again for Bethel to make it a one-goal margin again with 4:27 left, but the Falcons held on for the win from there.
"We went down early 1-0 but after that our players settled in and controlled most of the game," said Friends women's soccer head coach Brent Hobson. "Getting the first goal was crucial going into half 1-1. We had multiple players come in off the bench today that played very well. Payton (Kauffman), Emaree (Gibson) and Ursula (Fissenden) all played some quality minutes that I believe helped change the game in the second half. Having more depth this year has helped us out in these types of games."
The Falcons held a 10-8 edge in shot attempts while outshooting the Threshers 8-6 on-goal. Larosee led the Falcons with two shots overall.
"Our coaching staff was joking after the game, I believe Keily has more collegiate goals than all of us combined," said Hobson. "The set up by Anahi was really well played."
Morgan Wilkinson made four saves for the Falcons (6-2, 3-0 KCAC) and Jacie Scott stopped five shots for the Threshers (3-4-1, 1-2 KCAC).
The Falcons will next play at the University of Saint Mary on Wednesday (Oct. 2) at 5 pm before returning home to face McPherson College Saturday night (Oct. 5) for a 7:30 pm kickoff at Adair-Austin Stadium.
