WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Women's Soccer Falcons have been as consistent as the sun rising and setting each day. Over the last 10 years, the Falcons have finished outside the KCAC's top four only twice, with three runner-up finishes included in that span along with the program's first-ever conference unbeaten season in 2023. The Falcons enter the 2025 campaig with as much momentum as ever, coming off the team's first KCAC tournament championship in the modern-era that resulted in the program's fourth NAIA National Tournament appearance in the past six years.
"As a team we have already talked about the added pressure of coming off a successful season," said Hobson. "The team is hungry and motivated to back it up this fall. But last year is behind us and we will just take the season one game at a time and prepare the best we can."
Heading into head coach Brent Hobson's 12th year at the helm, the Falcons lose five All-KCAC performers from last season, including the team's modern-era career-leading scorer Keily Larosee. But the team is set to welcome back honorable-mention selections Pilar Flores and Faith Smith for the upcoming campaign.
Flores contributed a goal and three assists from the midfield spot last season, while Smith helped anchor a stout defense that carried a scoreless streak of nearly 252 minutes heading into the national tourney and produced 12 shutouts overall on the season.
"Faith will be our returning defensive player in the back, she'll play a big role within our defensive group," noted Hobson. "Pilar will be our leader in the midfield and was named a team captain this past spring. I know she'll lead us on and off the field."
Not without significance, Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo and Kieley Aranda are also back with the team after providing a historic clutch moment in teaming up for the game-winning goal in overtime of the Falcons' conference tournament championship win over York University. Ibarra-Arevalo headed in a perfect cross from Aranda just 2:38 into the first overtime period to propel the Falcons to the title and spontaneously combust a euphoric celebration.
Aranda (five goals, two assists) and Ibarra-Arevalo (two goals, team-high six assists) are the Falcons' leading returning scorers for this season, with Alex Fonseca (two goals, two assists) and Elise Murrietta (one goal, three assists) also returning to provide offensive punch.
One intriguing returner is Yairee Perez, who has battled injuries but is a two-time All-KCAC honorable-mention performer.
Additionally, Elise Prince, Olivia Minjares, Emaree Gibson, Payton Kaufman, Trinity Granger and Liset Vallejo are back after seeing a healthy amount of action last fall.
At goalkeeper, Morgan Wilkinson is the lone veteran on the roster with experience after sharing time in the net with All-KCAC selection Nia Baker the past two years. Wilkinson has recorded 85 saves with a 1.16 goals-against-average in over 1,700 career minutes in the net.
"We have a really talented goalkeeper group this year," said Hobson. "We have two freshmen in Magnolia Tavizon and Camila Apple that we are really excited about and both played at a good level in club soccer out in Vegas and California. Morgan will be the starter for now, but she knows it's not a given and she'll have to earn it in preseason. I expect her to be a great leader for our two freshmen coming in."
With the departure of five all-conference players and seven starters overall, Hobson will also need immediate contributions from an impressive array of newcomers to keep the Falcons' place among the conference elite.
"Solenn Levesque is a player to watch, she's played at a high level in France," said Hobson. "She was in PSG's youth academy for a while and we expect her to be someone that can come in and compete well. Sam Jones is a transfer that should be able to come in and help us. She's coming off back-to-back National Championship games with Johnson County CC. She has size and the ability to play a few different positions."
The Falcons will begin the 2025 season with a high-level matchup at Oral Roberts University on Aug. 21 in Tulsa, Okla. Following a match at Central Christian College on Aug. 30, the Falcons will welcome Texas Wesleyan University to Wichita on Sept. 4 for the home opener. KCAC action begins on Sept. 17 at home vs. Southwestern College at Adair-Austin Stadium.
"Another unique schedule this year for non-conference, starting with playing at ORU," said Hobson. "This is the second year in a row playing a NCAA D1 team so we'll go down there and compete the best we can, it'll be a good test for our program. We had a late game cancellation, so we've added the Regis University game in Denver, Colo. They are a NCAA D2 program, but they were looking for a game as well, so it'll be a good test out in Denver. Hastings College will be a great game for us, they've done well the last few years so that is another good test on the road before we play conference games."
