Phoenix, AZ- On Saturday afternoon, Arizona Christian Women's Soccer went toe-to-toe with #11 The Master's before falling 2-1.  An own goal scored in favor of TMU in the 81st minute was the difference in the contest.  Freshman Irene Ledezma scored for ACU.  Freshman Tahlia Miears notched nine saves.

The opening five minutes of the contest were actioned packed as the teams exchanged an ACU corner kick and shot by Sophomore Kylie Neafus needing to be saved and two shots from TMU requiring saves from Miears. The next minute saw the Mustangs (11-1, 4-0 GSAC) punched in a goal following a corner.

The teams did not disappoint in the next ten minutes either.  Two shots by TMU were followed by a free kick hit on frame by Senior Tasha Coleman but it was saved.  Minute 17 saw Sophomore Sarah Carrell serve a corner kick to the back post that a TMU defender tried to clear but the ball went right to Ledezma who buried the goal two touches later.  For Ledezma, her second goal of the season tied the game at 1-1.

By the end of the half, fairly even possession resulted in 21 shots with TMU holding the 12-9 edge.  Miears earned six first half saves for the Firestorm (4-5-1, 0-3-1 GSAC).

Half number two saw less shooting for both teams though several were still dangerous.  Ledezma sent a shot over the crossbar in the 58th minute.

Move ahead to the final ten minutes and the game was still tied 1-1.  But a foul was called against ACU and the ensuing free kick was played into the box with four players in the air trying to either score or clear the ball.  Unfortunately, the ball skipped off the top of the head of an ACU defender and carried under the crossbar into the goal for a 2-1 TMU lead.

Sophomore Braxton Carhart took the final shot of the game but her free kick was saved.

A key reason for the Firestorm's ability to hang with the Mustangs was the play of Miears in the net and the defensive line of Coleman, Carrell, Freshman Hannah Matthews, and Freshman Amariah Kotte holding the GSAC's leading scorer Jasmine Parada to just one shot on the afternoon.

On Thursday, the Firestorm will travel to William Jessup for the first of two games in Northern California.  Start time at WJU is planned for 1:00 pm.