MVC SOCCER TEAMS SPLIT AT AVILA TO OPEN HAAC PLAY

MVC SOCCER TEAMS SPLIT AT AVILA TO OPEN HAAC PLAY

 

Marshall, Mo. (September 28, 2013)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's soccer teams went on the road to Avila University Saturday afternoon for Heart of America Athletic Conference openers.  The women's team fell late to Avila 2-1 while the No. 10 men's team dominated in a 5-0 victory.

 

The MVC women's soccer team and Avila came into the match in the "others receiving votes" category in the latest NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll.  The Vikings found themselves in an early 1-0 hole when Avila was able to score just eight minutes after the match started.  The Vikings had their chances in the first half, getting off four shots, including two on goal, but could not find the equalizer before the halftime break as Avila held on to the 1-0 lead.

 

After the restart, it didn't take MVC long to even things up.  Freshman Midfielder Andrea Garcia (Toledo, Spain) set up Junior Midfielder Lucia Martin Garcia Calvo (Toledo, Spain) for goal coming off a Viking corner kick just five minutes into the second half to tie the match up at 1-1.  Both teams had chances to break the tie through the rest of the half, but a red card issued at the 71-minute mark resulted in MVC having to play with only 10 players for the last 19 minutes.  Avila eventually used the extra player to its advantage and scored the game winning goal with just over 10 minutes remaining.  The Vikings could not get another chance on goal through the last minutes of the half and were knocked off 2-1.

 

Garcia now has six assists and 12 points on the season, while Calvo scored her first goal of the year.

 

The loss snaps a seven match winning streak for MVC and drops the Vikings to 7-2-1 overall and 0-1 in HAAC play.  Avila improves to 11-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

 

The No. 10 Viking men's team had an easier time against Avila, scoring four second half goals to come away with a 6-0 victory.  The Vikings opened up their scoring midway through the first half.  Albaro Diaz Hidalgo scored off assists from Junior Defender Bernardo Ferriz Diaz (Cadiz, Spain) and Junior Forward Tiago Ferreira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) to give MVC a 1-0 lead 19-minutes into the match.  The second goal came 15 minutes later when Senior Forward Nicholas Alexander (Manchester, England) found the back of the next to give MVC a 2-0 lead at the halftime break.  The Vikings outshot Avila 11-0 in the first half.

 

The second half was dominated by the Vikings, scoring just six minutes into the half as Senior Forward Alberto Linan Gomez (Seville, Spain) gave MVC a 3-0 lead.  The score would stay that way until the 77th minute when Ferreira scored a goal of his own to extend the Viking lead to 4-0.  Ten minutes later, it was another Viking goal as Freshman Defender Aleix Alvarez Dominguez (Barcelona, Spain) was set up by another assist for Ferreira, and just as the game came to a close Senior Midfielder Miguel Jimenez (Madrid, Spain) scored off a third Ferreira assist.

 

Ferreira now as six goals, five assists and 17 total points on the season, Alexander now has seven goals and 17 total points on the year and Gomez has four goals and 13 total points.

 

The Vikings finished with 33 total shots, 11 of which were on goal.  The Vikings allowed only one shot by Avila which was not on goal and Senior Keeper Josh Wells (Kent, England) collected his fifth shutout of the season.

 

The win improves MVC to 7-1-1 on the season and 1-0 in HAAC play.  Avila falls to 4-7 overall and 0-1 in conference.

 

Up next the men's and women's teams will play a doubleheader at home against Ottawa University.  The women's game starts at 6:00 p.m. and the men's game is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. Tuesday at Gregg-Mitchell Field.

 

 

About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 40 academic programs, study abroad program, honors program, extracurricular activities, and 13 sports. The most popular majors include education and business, and some new majors are ag-business, nursing, graphic design, and health information systems (associate degree). Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.