WICHITA, Kan. — The No. 2-seeded Friends University Falcons opened KCAC Tournament play in dominant fashion Wednesday evening (Nov. 5), earning a 3–1 victory over the No. 7-seeded Southwestern College Moundbuilders to advance to the semifinals.
As the No. 2 seed, the Falcons earned the opportunity to host the No. 7 seed Moundbuilders at Adair-Austin Stadium. The Falcons came out firing, scoring all three of their goals in an impressive first-half performance. Solenn Levesque opened the scoring early off an assist from Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo. Moments later, Alexa Fonseca doubled the lead with a header, again assisted by Ibarra-Arevalo, marking her second assist of the match. Before the halftime whistle, Paige Putter extended the advantage to 3–0 by converting a corner kick from Liset Vallejo to cap off a commanding first half.
Southwestern spoiled the shutout with a late penalty-kick goal in the second half, but Friends' early offensive surge proved too much to overcome for the Moundbuilders.
The Falcons controlled play throughout, out shooting the Moundbuilders 21–4 (10–3 on goal) and dominating possession. Ibarra-Arevalo led the offensive attack with four shots, including two on target, while goalkeeper Morgan Wilkinson tallied two saves in the win.
With the victory, Friends advances to the KCAC semifinals, where they will face No. 3-seeded Kansas Wesleyan University. The Falcons previously defeated the Coyotes 2–1 during the regular season. Kickoff is scheduled for Friday (Nov. 7) at 2:30 p.m. at Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kansas, as Friends looks to secure a spot in the KCAC Championship.
