The Lowdown: Bethel College @ Friends University

Location: Adair-Austin Stadium        

Kickoff: Oct. 17 @ 5:30 PM

Live Stream: https://kcacnetwork.com/friends/

Live Stats https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wsoc/2026-27/conf/KCAC/boxscores/20261017_dord.xml

Tickets: https://tickets.friendsathletics.com/section/mens-and-womens-soccer-geww

Flying with the Women's Soccer Falcons (8-3-1, 6-1-0 KCAC)

The Friends University Falcons won for the eighth time in their last nine matches by handing Avila University its first conference loss of the season 2-0 Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 14) at Stryker Sports Complex. Kieley Aranda powered the Falcons with both goals in the victory. Friends now has sole possession of second place in the KCAC at 6-1 with an 8-3-1 overall mark.

Aranda leads the Falcons with six goals on the season, followed by Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo with five scores. Both Aranda and Ibarra-Arevalo have been clutch and are each tied for second in the KCAC with three game-winning goals. Liset Vallejo has dished out a team-leading three assists. 

Kaitlyn Martinez and Camilla Apple have each provided solid minutes in the net this season for the Falcons. Martinez has played in eight matches and has recorded a 1.33 GAA and is tied for fourth in the KCAC in saves (52) and ranks fifth in save percentage (.839). In five outings this season, Apple has been extremely effective with a 0.22 GAA, a .923 save percentage and 12 saves overall.

Dish on the Threshers (2-9-1, 1-7-1 KCAC)

The Bethel College Threshers have dropped two straight and are now 2-9-1 overall and 1-7-1 in the KCAC.

Malayasia Larque leads the Threshers with five goals and is one of three on the team to record an assist this season.

Harley Inskeep has saw most of the time at goalkeeper for Bethel this season and has a 2.99 GAA while ranking tied for fourth in the KCAC with the Falcons' Martinez in saves (52).

The Series: The Falcons have won five straight in the series after a 4-1 win on the road over the Threshers last season. Friends is 15-4-5 overall vs. Bethel since 2004, with a 7-3-3 record in Wichita during that stretch.

A Tie is a Win: The Falcons have made key plays in the second half when needed, as they are unbeaten at 4-0-1 this season when the match is tied at halftime.

Fore! The Falcons have scored a season-high four goals twice this season, first in a 4-1 win over Saint Mary (Sept. 30) and then again in a 4-0 victory at Sterling last Saturday (Oct. 10).

Top of the League: The Falcons have been well represented in the KCAC weekly honors this year. Friends swept the KCAC Offensive (Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo) and Defensive (Alayna Runck) Player of the Week awards on Sept. 14 before Paige Putter was named the league's top defender on Sept. 22.

The Coaches:

Brent Hobson is in his 13th season leading the Falcons women's soccer team for the 2026 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 12 seasons at the helm, Hobson has amassed an overall record of 138-82-24. 

Last season, the Falcons went 14-4-4 and finished second in the KCAC regular season for the fourth time in the past 11 seasons.

The 2024 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.

James Lipocky is in his second season as head coach of the Bethel College women's soccer program.

With over 15 years of coaching experience, Lipocky was the head coach at Eastern Nazarene College in Massachusetts for two seasons prior to arriving at Bethel. Before that, Lipocky served as the head coach at Indiana Tech from 2007-2022 and is the winningest coach in program history. He guided Indiana Tech to a runner-up regular season and conference tournament finish in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference in 2012.

Up Next: The Falcons will hit the road and play at Evangel University Wednesday evening (Oct. 21) at 5 pm in Springfield, Mo.  

Women's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 8-3-1

KCAC: 6-1-0

Home: 4-1-0

Away: 3-2-1

Neutral: 1-0-0

Scoring zero goals: 0-1-1

Scoring one goal: 2-2-0

Scoring two goals: 3-0-0

Scoring three goals: 1-0-0

Scoring 4+ goals: 2-0-0

Allowing zero goals: 6-0-1

Allowing one goal: 2-0-0

Allowing two goals: 0-1-0

Allowing three goals: 0-1-0

Allowing 4+ goals: 0-1-0

Leading at halftime: 4-0-0

Trailing at halftime: 0-3-0

Tied at halftime: 4-0-1

Leading in shots-on-goal: 6-0-0

Trailing in shots-on-goal: 1-3-1

Shots-on-goal are even: 1-0-0