Women's Soccer 11/20/2025 10:43:00 AM

Women's Soccer Gameday Preview: Falcons kick off NAIA Postseason run today vs. (RV) Hastings

Photo Credit: Greg Dalton

The Lowdown: Friends University vs. (RV) Hastings College

* NAIA National Tournament First Round

Location: Siloam Springs, Ark.

Kickoff: Nov. 20 @ 1:00 PM

Live Stream: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/7272

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

Siloam Springs Microsite

Flying with the Women's Soccer Falcons (14-3-4, 10-1-2, KCAC)

The Falcons tied top-seeded and No. 5-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan 0-0 before falling in a penalty kick shootout 4-3 in the KCAC tournament championship game last Wednesday (Nov. 12) at Scheels Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita. The Falcons head into their fifth NAIA National Tournament appearance in the last seven seasons at 14-3-4 overall.

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. Trinity Granger and Elisa Murrieta have each distributed four helpers.

At goalkeeper, Morgan Wilkinson is second in the KCAC in goals-against-average (0.69) and third in save percentage (.829) and has made 63 saves in over 1707 minutes in the net this season for Friends.

Dish on the Broncos (15-3-3, 7-2-2 GPAC)

The (RV) Hastings College Broncos won their second straight Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) tournament title with a 1-0 win over Dordt University in the championship match. The Broncos are 15-3-3 overall and finished tied for third in the GPAC regular season at 7-2-2 in the league.

Madison Rhodes leads Hastings with 10 goals and Payton Tanner is second with eight scores. Megan Lampe is tops on the Broncos with six assists on the season.

Tatiana Villasenor is first in the GPAC in both GAA (0.64) and save percentage (.868) with 66 saves in just over 1416 minutes at goalkeeper for the Broncos.

The Series: The NAIA First Round matchup between the Falcons and Broncos will be a rematch from a 0-0 draw earlier this season (Sept. 13) in Hastings, Neb. This is the fourth matchup on record between the two schools, with the match in Sept. 17 in Wichita also ending in a tie (1-1) and the Broncos winning 1-0 at home in 2005.

Streaking Falcons: The Women's Soccer Falcons are playing their best soccer of the season heading into NAIA National Tournament, having posted a 9-0-1 mark in their last 10 matches with a combined score of 27-2 during that stretch. The draw during that span was a 0-0 tie vs. No. 5-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University in the KCAC tournament championship match. The Falcons' last setback was also against OKWU back on Oct. 8.

Keeping it Real: The matchup between the Falcons and Broncos will feature two stout goalkeepers in Morgan Wilkinson and Tatiana Villasenor. Wilkinson is second in the KCAC with a 0.69 goals-against average for the Falcons, while the Broncos' Villasenor is tops in the GPAC in GAA (0.64).

Familiar Terrain: This will be third time the Falcons have been placed in the Siloam Springs bracket of the NAIA National Tournament after also making appearances there in the 2021 and 2023 seasons.

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 1-0-4 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 130-78-23.

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.

Jade Ovendale is in her sixth season at the helm of the Hastings College women's soccer program. Last season, Ovendale was named the GPAC Coach of the Year after leading the Broncos to the conference regular season and tournament championship with a 15-1-6 overall record. She also guided the team to the 2023 GPAC regular season title and an NAIA Round of 16 appearance.

Prior to arriving at Hastings, Ovendale was the head coach at Northern Oklahoma College for two seasons after serving four years as the men's soccer assistant coach.

Ovendale also played collegiately at Northern Oklahoma and helped the squad win two conference championships. She then played at USAO in Chickasha, Okla. and was named the Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year along with an NAIA Honorable-Mention All-America selection in 2014.

Up Next: With a win over Hastings, the Falcons would advance to play No. 10-ranked John Brown University on Saturday (Nov. 22) at 6 pm with a berth to the NAIA final site of Pensacola, Fla. on the line.

Women's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 14-3-4

KCAC: 10-1-2

Home: 7-1-1

Away: 6-2-2

Neutral: 1-0-1

Scoring zero goals: 0-3-3

Scoring one goal: 3-0-1

Scoring two goals: 1-0

Scoring three goals: 3-0

Scoring 4+ goals: 7-0

Allowing zero goals: 10-0-3