Glendale, Ariz.- The Lady Firestorm cemented themselves as third seed in the upcoming GSAC Women's Soccer Tournament with a gritty 1-0 victory over The Master's. Justyne Underwood had the eventual game-winning goal in the 16th minute, as the ACU defense, including goalkeeper Tayler Wonderly, shut down the opposition. Six seniors (Pearl Vargas, Alyssa Mercado, Rachel Clark, Jadaisha Waahila, Bianca Cruz, and Noemie Antoine) were honored before today's contest, and they certainly were gifted an incredible final regular-season memory.

Score: Arizona Christian 1, The Master's 0
Records: Arizona Christian 10-4-1 (5-2-0) | The Master's 8-4-3 (3-2-2)
Location: ACU Football Field - Glendale, AZ

STAT TRACKER

Justyne Underwood - 1 goal, 2 shots
Cami Mercado - 4 shots, 1 on goal
Shayla Mobo - 3 shots, 1 on goal
Cadence Peroff - 1 shots
Tayler Wonderly - 9 saves

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

ACU controlled the game's early tempo, outshooting The Master's 4-1 in the first 10 minutes. Tayler Wonderly came out of the gates steady-handed, collecting two early saves off the foot of the Mustangs' Cynthia Ramos. 

Less than 30 seconds after Wonderly's second save, the Firestorm pushed the ball inside The Master's 20 yard-line, Shayla Mobo, Grace Carney and Justyne Underwood all in attack mode. Underwood was lost in the fray as the Mustang's goalkeeper Autumn Jensen was preoccupied with Mobo and Carney. A deflection off of a cross by Mobo set Underwood up with a clean look, which she took full advantage of and kicked into the back of the net. 

Underwood's score in the 16th minute was her seventh of 2023, putting her five behind Cami Mercado (12). The Firestorm only unloaded one more shot attempt in the first half, as Mobo sent in an on-target shot that was saved by Jensen. The Master's, on the other hand, recorded eight more shots, including four on goal. Wonderly had a few shaky saves, but nonetheless did not surrender a score. Hannah Burke registered two of those shots on goal for the Mustangs.

A few minutes past the second half kickoff, Ramos was again the aggressor for The Master's, firing off a shot on goal. Wonderly remained calm and executed yet another save. Cami Mercado almost added to ACU's 1-0 lead in the 58th minute, as she could not quite get enough leg behind a ball served inside the box.

Tensions were high until the very last whistle in such a crucial conference game, intensifying the Firestorm defense. Wonderly reached a total of nine saves by the match's conclusion, requiring every last one. Opportunity was the name of the game for each team, but ACU got the result and the shutout as their defense won out.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH GINA CORMIER

"What a game to finish our regular season and to honor our seniors," Coach Cormier said. "The players played with passion and intensity, and really worked together to get that goal and then hold off a talented Master's team. We are excited for the conference playoffs. We believe we are fully capable of winning three in a row and bringing home the title."

NEXT MATCH

With the regular season in the rearview mirror, the Lady Firestorm now ready themselves for a quarterfinal match in the GSAC Women's Soccer Tournament next Saturday. ACU will host Menlo as the three seed with kickoff at 1:00 PM. Follow the action with live stats at https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary and watch the game at https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian/. 



Roll Storm!