ADA – The East Central University soccer team will have one match at home and one on the road this week in Great American Conference action. The first match is set for Thursday, Oct. 1 at 4 p.m. at Tiger Field against Southern Nazarene. ECU will then travel to face Oklahoma Baptist, Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m.
The Tigers (2-6, 1-1 GAC) split their opening weekend of conference action with a 0-4 loss to Southwestern and a 3-0 shutout of Northwestern. The shutout was the first of the season for ECU and had three different goal scorers. The match-winning goal was scored by sophomore
Deanna Rudasill, her second goal of the season, while she also added assists on the other two goals in the match.
Senior
Taylor Kennedy still leads the Tigers with four goals on the year, while freshman
Chloe Hull has played most of the time in net and has 59 saves to her credit and a shutout.
The Crimson Storm are currently 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the GAC and will face Oklahoma Baptist, Tuesday, Sept. 29 before coming to Ada. SNU fell to Ouachita Baptist and Harding in the opening week of GAC play. The Crimson Storm have scored five goals and allowed 10 on the year.
Hannah Robinson and Siara Price are two of the five goal scorers for SNU, with each adding an assist. Robinson has 18 shots (seven on goal) and Price has taken five shots (four on goal). Natasha Fuentes has seen all the time in net for the Crimson Storm, allowing 10 goal and stopping 54 shots.
Thursday's meeting will be the 12
th in the all-time series, with ECU trailing 3-7-1 overall and 2-4 in league play. The last outing resulted in a tie in the books at the semifinals of the 2014 GAC Championship, but the Tigers fell in a shootout. The last ECU win was Oct. 3, 2014 and ECU is 2-3 when playing at home.
Oklahoma Baptist is 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the GAC after falling to Harding and Ouachita in the opening weekend. The Bison have garnered nine goals and allowed 17 for the year, but they have a much closer number in shots on goal (41-48).
Maddie Windham has scored four of OBU's nine goals this season and has an assist. She has taken 12 total shots, with nine finding the goal. Mikayla Lowery is the only other player with multiple goals for the year, with two. She adds four shots on goal. Emma Beck has played the entire season in net, with a 3.40 goals against average and 31 saves.
The game in Shawnee, Okla., will be just the second time the teams have faced each other and the first as conference opponents. The Tigers earned a 1-0 win Sept. 12, 2014 in the first meeting at home.
