Eagles Earn First Win with Victory over Evangel

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The offense struck for two goals in the first half, and the defense was able to buckle down and keep Evangel at bay long enough, helping Avila women's soccer (1-5-0, 1-0 KCAC) to its first win of the 2023 campaign, a 2-1 win over Evangel (1-4-1, 0-1 KCAC) on Wednesday afternoon at The Z.

After a challenging non-conference schedule where the Eagles were consistently unable to earn the results they wanted, Avila put together a really strong opening 45 minutes in their first half of conference play on Wednesday before holding off a comeback by the Valor in the second half in the first KCAC matchup between AU and EU, two schools that were formerly opponents in the Heart of America Athletic Conference last decade.

The Eagles won three corner kicks in the first three minutes of the match and generated the game's first chances, but Evangel had the first good look about eight minutes in when Reese Hertel's bid was stopped by goalkeeper Kenan Ebel and then cleared out of the box by outside back Alessandra Calderon.

Neither team had a high quality chance again until the half hour mark, where Evangel's Macy Riek, who had just subbed into the game minutes prior, picked up a yellow card for a dangerous tackle. Megan Nugent stepped up to take the free kick from well outside the box, and her delivery chipped past everyone and to the back post, where Amaris Sigler came crashing in to blast a shot past Chloe Hancock for the game's first goal.

Undeterred, the Valor immediately created the game's best scoring chance when McKenzie Calhoun was played past Avila's defense for a clear look at cage, but Ebel came out and made an excellent save with her left hand to deny the chance. Riek had a follow-up bid moments later, but the Avila defense, anchored by centerbacks Suzie Lopez and Brooke Clark, recovered and blocked the shot, ending the scoring threat.

Just a few minutes later, Avila was right back in the attacking third, and the Eagles won another corner for Nugent. Her delivery swung through the box and fell to Emily Nachbar who played off for Sigler, who blasted a shot hard off the crossbar – fortunately for the Eagles, it fell right to Mia Yerian who was unmarked behind the defense, and she tapped into the open net for her first goal as an Eagle.

In just over five minutes, Avila turned a scoreless game into a 2-0 lead, thanks to two goals off set pieces, including a goal off a corner kick for the third straight game – a statistical improbability to say the least.

Evangel didn't play a bad first half despite the scoreline, and the visitors wasted no time getting right back into the game when top goal scorer Anna Crain leaked through the defense and beat Ebel for her fifth goal of the season already less than five minutes into the second half. The Valor had the better of the looks in the second half – the Eagles, and primarily Nugent, put four shots on Hancock in the second period but none were terribly dangerous, and on the other side, a resilient defensive corps hunkered down and prevented the Valor from evening the score, allowing Avila to escape The Z with a hard-earned 2-1 win to begin conference play in 2023.

Up next, Avila will play its second straight home game to open up KCAC play this season when the Eagles welcome McPherson to The Z this Sunday, September 17. The women's game begins the doubleheader at 1 PM, with the men to follow at 3:30; admission to the games is free, and, as always, you can watch all the action on the Avila Sports Network with Tim Hackett and Max Williams on the call from Kansas City.