#21 USAO Defeats Friends University in First Round of NAIA National Championship

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Thursday night, the No. 21 ranked University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (18-2-1, 8-1 SAC) opened the first round of the NAIA National Championship against Friends University (14-6-2, 9-3-1 SAC). With the win, the Drovers improve to 8-2-1 against the Falcons all-time, a series that dates to September of 2004. 

The NAIA national tournament appearance is the eighth in program history and the win against Friends marks the first win at the tournament since 2019, when the Drovers hosted the first and second rounds. 

On Thursday, the game began with 26 minutes of scoreless action, prior to the Drovers capturing a1-0 lead as Cloey Prachyl headed in her first goal of the season, off a corner kick from Ilse de Jong in the 27^thminute. USAO maintained a one-goal lead for the remainder of the first half. 

Following halftime, the Flacons quickly evened the score at 1-1 with a long shot from a poor angle outside the box in the 48^th minute. 

Five minutes later, USAO reclaimed the lead as Ilse de Jong tallied her 15^th goal of the season on a free-kick from just outside the top of the box. 

The Drovers held off the Falcons for the remainder of the contest, advancing to the second round of the tournament, against host No. 8 Columbia College.

As a team, USAO attempted five shots, with three being on goal, while Friends attempted 15 shots, four of which were on target. The Falcons were whistled for six fouls, while the Drovers committed 12 infractions. USAO attempted four corner kicks and Friends had zero attempts out of the offensive corners. 

Ashlyn Lonberg got the start between the pipes for USAO and stopped three of the four shots she faced, earning her 15th win of the season. With the victory, Lonberg owns an incredible career win-loss record to 26-3-1.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Drovers advance to the second round of the NAIA National Championship as they will face No. 8 ranked Columbia College at 1:00 PM CT on Saturday, November 23 in Columbia, Mo.

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