The Lowdown: Southwestern College at Friends University
Location: Adair-Austin Stadium
Kickoff: Nov. 5 @ 6:30 PM
Live Stream: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/6651
Live Stats: https://friendsathletics.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary
Flying with the Women's Soccer Falcons (12-3-3, 10-1-2, KCAC)
The Falcons finished the regular season on as high a note as possible, winning seven straight matches to clinch the second seed in the KCAC postseason tournament. Friends heads into postseason play with a 12-3-3 overall record and a sparkling 10-1-2 conference record, with its only setback in the league coming to top seed and No. 5-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
Kieley Aranda is first on the Falcons and third in the KCAC with 12 goals on the season, while Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo leads the team and ranks second in the league with seven assists. Paige Putter has six goals and three assists, with Trinity Granger, Solenn Levesque and Elisa Murrieta each distributing four helpers.
At goalkeeper, Morgan Wilkinson is now second in the KCAC in goals-against-average (0.76) and has made 53 saves in over 1417 minutes in the net this season.
Dish on the Lady Builders (5-7-4, 5-4-4 KCAC)
The Southwestern College Lady Builders are 5-7-4 overall, with all five wins coming in KCAC play for a 5-4-4 mark.
Kaitlyn Walker has scored a team-high five goals on the season for Southwestern and Millie Hazzard has four goals with a team-leading four assists.
Hayden Clark has a 1.19 GAA in 1440 minutes and is second in the KCAC with 88 saves.
The Series: The Falcons and Lady Builders played to a 0-0 draw earlier this season in a match that started on a Wednesday (Sept. 17) and ended on a Monday (Sept. 22) due to severe weather in the Wichita area. The Falcons are 12-7-5 against Southwestern since 2004, with a 6-1-4 home record during that stretch. The Falcons and Lady Builders have also split two KCAC tournament meetings on record, with Friends emerging victorious 2-0 in the 2023 quarterfinal round behind two goals from all-time leading goal scorer Keily Larosee.
Tickets: Click HERE to purchase tickets to tomorrow night's KCAC postseason tournament match. Fans are highly encouraged to purchase tickets ahead of time.
Free Food! The first 100 students to tomorrow night's match will receive a FREE Chick-fil-A Sandwich! Additionally, the first 50 students will receive a free drink from Sun & Brew.
KCAC Tournament Breakthrough: The Falcons captured their first-ever KCAC postseason tournament of the modern era last season with a thrilling 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 11 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 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.
Harry Simpson is in his third season as head coach of the Southwestern College Lady Builders. For the previous two years, Simpson was a graduate assistant coach for the Lady Builders.
Simpson played collegiately for the University of Wisconsin-Superior and contributed to a conference tournament championship and a bid to the NCAA Division III championship while also competing briefly for the men's tennis team.
Prior to his college career, Simpson competed for the Derbyshire Football Club at the U18 level.
Up Next: With a win over Southwestern, the Falcons would march on to the KCAC semifinals on Friday (Nov. 7) vs. the winner of third-seeded Kansas Wesleyan University and sixth-seeded University of Saint Mary. Kickoff would be at 2:30 pm at Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita.
Women's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:
Overall: 12-3-3
KCAC: 10-1-2
Home: 6-1-1
Away: 6-2-2
Scoring zero goals: 0-3-2
Scoring one goal: 2-0-1
Scoring two goals: 1-0
Scoring three goals: 2-0
Scoring 4+ goals: 7-0
Allowing zero goals: 9-0-2
Allowing one goal: 3-0-1
Allowing two goals: 0-1
Allowing three goals: 0-0
Allowing 4+ goals: 0-2
Leading at halftime: 11-0
Trailing at halftime: 0-3
Tied at halftime: 1-0-3
Leading in shots-on-goal: 11-0-3
Trailing in shots-on-goal: 1-3
Shots-on-goal are even: 0-0
