No. 5 JBU women score aplenty in SAC opener
■ The Golden Eagles tallied five goals in the second half for a 6-0 win.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Three John Brown University women’s soccer players scored their first career goals as Golden Eagles, and No. 5 JBU women’s soccer team used five second-half goals to open Sooner Athletic Conference play in convincing fashion, upending Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 6-0 on Tuesday afternoon at Evangel Field.
Freshman Alair Love, sophomore Audrey Balafas and junior Vanessa Reynoso all tallied their first-career goals for John Brown (8-1-, 1-0), which extended its winning streak to five consecutive matches.
The NAIA released its weekly Coaches’ Top-25 Poll at halftime of the match, featuring the Golden Eagles moving up one slot to claim No. 5 — JBU’s highest-ever ranking in program history and the first time the Golden Eagles have been featured among the top five programs.
Love stole an outlet pass and carried possession for about five yards before unleashing a 22-yard rocket to the upper right corner past MACU keeper Jennifer Starwalt to break the scoreless tie in the 24th minute.
While the Golden Eagles never trailed in the contest, sophomore Caitlyn Logan was challenged early before she coasted to her sixth clean sheet of the season. Just five minutes in, MACU’s Pyper Steinweiss ripped a blast destined for the top left corner, but Logan read the long-range attempt and dove perfectly to make a sprawling save. From there, JBU rode the momentum of relentless, unending offensive pressure.
While pressing the Evangel goal hard through the first 45, the visitors managed just a one-goal lead despite a 15-4 shooting advantage.
In the second half, however, the floodgates poured open, and quickly. Sophomore Sienna Nealon tallied her first goal this season that did not stand as the game winner, this time the insurance marker, exactly six seconds into the second half when she buried an incoming pass from sophomore Paige Kula for her fourth of the season.
Seven and a half minutes later, Nealon added a third point on the afternoon by centering a pass to senior Aspen Carpenter from the right side. Carpenter deposited her third of the season into the middle of the goal.
Reynoso’s penalty kick conversion pushed the John Brown lead to 4-0 in the 62nd minute and junior Kristen Howell added her second of the year off a pass from freshman Maggie Bailey in the 76th. Howell let go a shot from outside the box on the left side that finished just inside the right post.
Armed with a commanding 5-0 lead, the Golden Eagles added the finale with 10 minutes left. Balafas finished a loose ball in the box from nine yards out.
Starwalt, while dinged with the loss, made a courageous 10 saves on 16 attempts. JBU outshot the hosts 17-2 in the second half and 32-6 in the match, as the visitors set season highs in both shot attempts (32) and shots on target (16).
JBU was scheduled to return home Saturday to face Oklahoma City. Results were not available at presstime.
JBU is scheduled to return to action at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Bacone (Okla.) in Muskogee, Okla.