The Lowdown: No. 8 Oklahoma Wesleyan at Friends University

Location: Adair-Austin Stadium      

Kickoff: Oct. 8 @ 5:00 PM

Live Stream: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/2860

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

Flying with the Women's Soccer Falcons (5-2-3, 3-0-2, KCAC)

The Falcons are 5-2-3 and still unbeaten in the KCAC at 3-0-2 following a 3-0 shutout victory at York University on Saturday (Oct. 4).

Kieley Aranda leads the Falcons with six goals, while Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo has three goals and is tied with Trinity Granger for the team lead in assists with three helpers. Paige Putter has also emerged and has three goals and two assists.

Morgan Wilkinson is now tied for fourth in the KCAC with a 1.00 goals-against-average and has made 32 saves in nearly 813 minutes in the net. 

Dish on the Eagles (9-1-1, 6-0 KCAC)

The No. 8-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles are off to another strong start and are 9-1-1 overall and a perfect 6-0 in the KCAC this season.

Three of the top five goal scorers in the KCAC belong to OKWU, led by Laura Gieseler with 13 goals. Isabelle Simoneu and Frederiekke Nielsen are each tied for fourth in the league with seven goals, with Linn Joelsson leading the conference with seven assists.

At goalkeeper, Alessandra Martinez leads the NAIA in both GAA (0.12) and save percentage (.960) and has made 24 saves on the season.

The Series: The Falcons are 4-12-2 vs. the Eagles since 2004 but advanced on penalty kicks in the KCAC semifinal round last year following a scoreless tie with OKWU on the way to the program's first-ever postseason tournament title. Friends is 3-4 at home during that stretch but have dropped the last four meetings vs. the Eagles at Adair-Austin Stadium.

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.

Ivan Ristic is in his seventh season as head coach of the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles. Ristic enjoyed immediate success at the helm, guiding the Eagles to both the KCAC regular season and tournament championships in his first season on the bench. Since then, Ristic and the Eagles had won the double conference championships every season until last year, when the program won the regular season title but were ousted on penalty kicks to the Falcons in the KCAC semifinal round. The Eagles have also advanced to the NAIA National Tournament each year of Ristic's tenure, including a quarterfinal appearance in 2022.

Up Next: The Falcons will remain at home and host Sterling College Saturday night (Oct. 11) at 7 pm at Adair-Austin Stadium.

Women's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 5-2-3

KCAC: 3-0-3

Home: 3-0-1

Away: 2-2-2

Scoring zero goals: 0-2-2

Scoring one goal: 0-0-1

Scoring two goals: 1-0

Scoring three goals: 1-0

Scoring 4+ goals: 3-0

Allowing zero goals: 4-0-2

Allowing one goal: 1-0-1

Allowing two goals: 0-0

Allowing three goals: 0-0

Allowing 4+ goals: 0-2

Leading at halftime: 4-0

Trailing at halftime: 0-2

Tied at halftime: 1-0-3

Leading in shots-on-goal: 5-0-3

Trailing in shots-on-goal: 0-2

Shots-on-goal are even: 0-0