Canton, Mo. – The Central Methodist University women's soccer team traveled to Canton, Missouri on Wednesday evening, for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match at Culver-Stockton College. CMU struck late to pass the Wildcats and claim a 2-1 victory.
With the win, the Eagles improve to 9-0-1 on the season, and 3-0-1 in The Heart. With the loss, Culver-Stockton falls to 5-3-2 and 2-2-0 in The Heart.
"Our first half wasn't the best and I thought we did a great job grinding out the win in the second half," said CMU head women's soccer coach Dan Schmidlin. "We also had to come from behind, because we conceded the first goal of the match. We started to get control of the match after we went down 0-1. Culver has some great results this year and they are always a tough match, so I am proud of the girls. The girls are working super hard and it shows in our results."
Following a scoreless first half, Culver-Stockton would strike for the games' first goal, just four minutes into the second half of play. Central would not trail for long; Rebecca Steele-Mackey (JR/Wasilla, Alaska) would connect on a pass to Taylor Nealy (SO/Troy, Mo.) just ten minutes later for the equalizer.
The game would remain tied until the latter stages of the contest. Central broke through in the 82nd minute, when Nicki Noreen (SR/Bartlett, Ill.) found freshman Judith Sainz (FR/Pamplona, Spain) for her 13th goal of the year. The goal ties Sainz with Noreen for the team lead in goals this season.
Central would fight off the Wildcats attacks in the final eight minutes, to hold on for the 2-1 victory. Freshman goalkeeper Ashlynn Freeman (FR/Moberly, Mo.) picked up her ninth win in goal this season, recording three saves in the victory.
Earlier in the day Wednesday, the NAIA announced their first edition of the 2016 NAIA Women's Soccer Modified Ratings Percentage Index (MRPI). Central Methodist appeared ranked 28th in the first MRPI of the season.
The Eagles remain on the road this weekend, when they travel to Dubuque, Iowa on Saturday to square off against Clarke University. Saturday's match is scheduled to begin at 2:30pm.
For more information about Central Methodist University athletics, visit http://www.cmueagles.com. Follow CMU athletics on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cmathletics and on Twitter twitter.com/cmueagles.
