Women's Soccer 10/22/2025 3:33:00 PM

Women's Soccer Gameday Preview: Falcons square off with Evangel tonight at Adair-Austin Stadium

The Lowdown: Evangel University at Friends University

Location: Adair-Austin Stadium

Kickoff: Oct. 22 @ 7:30 PM

Live Stream: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/2862

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

Flying with the Women's Soccer Falcons (8-3-3, 6-1-2, KCAC)

The Falcons are 8-3-3 overall and are now in second place in the KCAC with a 6-1-2 conference mark following a three-match winning streak. The Falcons outscored the opposition by a whopping 14-1 in that three-game stretch.

Kieley Aranda is first on the Falcons and now second in the KCAC with 10 goals on the season, while Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo leads the team and is second in the league in assists (five). Paige Putter has four goals and two assists, with Trinity Granger and Solenn Levesque each distributing four helpers.

At goalkeeper, Morgan Wilkinson is third in the KCAC in goals-against-average (0.94) and has made 41 saves in over 1057 minutes in the net this season.

Dish on the Valor (7-6-1, 5-4 KCAC)

The Evangel University Valor have also won three matches and are now 7-6-1 overall and 5-4 in the KCAC this season.

Amaura Austell leads the Valor with eight goals and Makayla Myers has five goals with a team-leading five assists. McKenzie Calhoun has also scored five goals for Evangel this season.

Rylee Clapp has seen the majority of time in the net this season for the Valor and has recorded a 2.17 GAA with 41 saves in nearly 954 minutes.

The Series: The Falcons have won both meetings on record since Evangel joined the KCAC in 2010 and has not allowed a goal in either outing. Friends won 2-0 in Wichita last season and 3-0 on the road in Springfield, Mo. in the first meeting during the 2023 campaign.

The Coaches:

Brent Hobson is in his 12th season leading the Falcons women's soccer team for the 2025 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. In his 11 seasons at the helm, Hobson has amassed an overall record of 116-75-19.

Last season saw the Falcons cross an item off the bucket list, winning their first KCAC tournament championship of the modern-era to clinch another NAIA National Tournament bid. The Falcons' run to the KCAC tourney title included a dramatic penalty kick win over top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan University in the semifinal round and a thrilling 1-0 overtime victory over York University in the championship match. The Falcons finished 14-6-2 overall for the program's fourth straight double-digit victory season.

The Falcons recorded a 13-5-4 record in 2023 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.

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 season, 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 in 2019, including two-time Goalkeeper of the Year Lauren Ferguson while guiding the team to the conference tournament championship game.

In the 2018 campaign, Hobson led the Falcons to a fourth-place in the KCAC for the second straight season and a home postseason tournament match for the third consecutive year.

He also coached six Falcons to all-conference honors, including KCAC Goalkeeper of the Year Lauren Ferguson.

The Falcons also soared off the pitch under Hobson, with a conference-high 18 student-athletes receiving KCAC Scholar-Athlete honors.

During the 2017 campaign, Hobson guided the squad to a fourth-place conference finish and a KCAC quarterfinal home match, with five Falcons earning all-conference recognition.

Off the pitch, the Falcons placed four student-athletes on the NAIA Scholar-Athlete list while a whopping 10 team members received the KCAC Scholar-Athlete award.

In 2016, the Falcons matched the 11 wins from a year before but improved to an 8-3 record in KCAC play for a third-place finish in the conference standings. Cuda repeated her CoSIDA award and was named the Academic All-America of the Year, the top academic award in all of college sports.

Hobson played all four years at Friends University then was hired on as an assistant coach for the men's and women's soccer teams. During his career, he tallied a total of 33 goals and 21 assists, along with eight game-winning goals. Hobson earned 2nd Team All-KCAC honors his junior year and 1st Team All-KCAC after his senior season. He also received numerous team awards. The Falcons were 24-10-3 in the KCAC and 47-27-5 overall in Hobson's four seasons on the team.

In 2013-2015, Hobson played professionally for the Wichita B-52's in the PASL & MISL Indoor Soccer League.

Hobson received his degree in health management from Friends in 2011. Hobson and his wife, Whitney, live in Wichita.

Bruce Deaton is in his 11th season as head coach of the Evangel University women's soccer program and the Director of Soccer Operations, having facilitated the launch of two new soccer programs at the school in 2015. Last season, the Valor finished sixth in the KCAC with a 7-4-2 conference record along with an 8-7-3 overall record.

Deaton guided Evangel to its best season in 2019 with an 11-6-2 overall record and a 7-2-2 conference record. Prior to arriving at Evangel, Deaton served a five-year tenure as head coach at Louisiana College, then an NCAA D-III school and now an NAIA program.

Up Next: The Falcons will celebrate Senior Night at home Saturday (Oct. 25) vs. Tabor College for a 4:30 pm kickoff at Adair-Austin Stadium.

Women's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 8-3-3

KCAC: 6-1-2

Home: 4-1-1

Away: 4-2-2

Scoring zero goals: 0-3-2

Scoring one goal: 0-0-1

Scoring two goals: 1-0

Scoring three goals: 1-0

Scoring 4+ goals: 6-0

Allowing zero goals: 6-0-2