Women's Soccer 11/12/2025 10:34:00 AM

Women's Soccer Gameday Preview: Falcons square off with top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan today for all the KCAC marbles

Photo Credit: Greg Dalton

The Lowdown: Friends University vs. No. 5 Oklahoma Wesleyan University

* KCAC Postseason Tournament Championship

Location: Stryker Sports Complex – Wichita, Kan.

Kickoff: Nov. 12 @ 1:00 PM

Live Stream: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/6656

Live Stats: https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wsoc/2025-26/boxscores/20251112_mjw5.xml

Flying with the Women's Soccer Falcons (14-3-3, 10-1-2, KCAC)

The second-seeded Falcons made an early goal by Trinity Granger stand tall in defeating the third-seeded Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes 1-0 to advance to the KCAC postseason tournament title match for the third straight year. Friends is now 14-3-3 overall and recorded a sparkling 10-1-2 conference record, with its only setback in the league coming to their championship opponent, the top seeded and No. 5-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles.

Kieley Aranda is first on the Falcons and tied for third in the KCAC with 12 goals on the season, while Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo leads the team and ranks second in the league with nine assists. Paige Putter has seven goals and three assists, with Solenn Levesque second on the Falcons and tied for third in the league with five assists. Granger and Elisa Murrieta have each distributed four helpers.

At goalkeeper, Morgan Wilkinson is second in the KCAC in goals-against-average (0.73) and has made 58 saves in over 1597 minutes in the net this season.

Dish on the Eagles (18-1-1, 13-0 KCAC)

The top-seeded and No. 5-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles are 18-1-1 after winning 2-0 over Tabor University to advance to the KCAC Championship match. OKWU was also a perfect 13-0 in the KCAC during the regular season.

Three of the top five goal scorers in the KCAC belong to OKWU, led by Laura Gieseler with 21 goals. Kylie Reif (12 goals) is tied for third and Frederiekke Nielsen (10 goals) is tied for fifth in goals, while Linn Joelsson leads the conference with 14 assists.

At goalkeeper, Alessandra Martinez leads the NAIA in both GAA (0.12) and save percentage (.941) and has made 32 saves on the season.

The Series: The Falcons fell 2-0 in the regular season matchup at Adair-Austin Stadium and are now 4-13-2 vs. the Eagles since 2004. But the Falcons did manage to advance 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. This will be the third matchup between the two schools in the KCAC title match, with OKWU winning the previous two outings, most recently 2-0 in 2023.

Tickets: Click HERE to purchase tickets to Wednesday's KCAC postseason tournament championship match. Fans are highly encouraged to purchase tickets ahead of time.

Another National Appearance: The Falcons' second-place finish in the KCAC regular season standings and their conference tournament title appearance vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan has clinched the program's fifth NAIA National Tournament berth in the last seven seasons.

Streaking Falcons: The Women's Soccer Falcons are playing their best soccer of the season heading into the KCAC championship match vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan, having won nine straight matches by a combined score of 27-2. The Falcons' last setback came against OKWU back on Oct. 8.

KCAC Tournament Breakthrough: The Falcons captured their first-ever KCAC postseason tournament of the modern era last season with a dramatic 1-0 overtime victory over York University. The winning moment came when Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo headed in a perfect cross from Kieley Aranda 2:38 into the first overtime period. Read the championship recap HERE!

Just Take Me Half the Way: When the Falcons lead at the half, they've won all 13 matches. But they've lost all three times they've trailed at intermission and are 1-0-3 when the match is tied at the half.

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 five national appearances in the past seven years. In his 11 seasons at the helm, Hobson has amassed an overall record of 130-78-22.

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: Win or lose vs. OKWU, the Falcons are set to make their fifth appearance in the NAIA National Tournament in the last seven years. The NAIA selection show will be Friday evening (Nov. 14) at 6 pm on the NAIA YouTube channel.

Women's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 14-3-3

KCAC: 10-1-2

Home: 7-1-1

Away: 6-2-2

Scoring zero goals: 0-3-2

Scoring one goal: 3-0-1

Scoring two goals: 1-0

Scoring three goals: 3-0

Scoring 4+ goals: 7-0

Allowing zero goals: 10-0-2

Allowing one goal: 4-0-1