Mesa, Ariz. - In a shot-friendly contest (22-20, ACU), Cameron Mercado and the Firestorm bested the Benedictine Mesa RedHawks 4-2 to secure their first victory of the young 2023 season. Mercado had the first and last say in the game, as ACU pulled away shortly after being tied late in the second half. 

Score:  Arizona Christian 4, Benedictine Mesa 2
Records:  Arizona Christian 1-1-0 (0-0-0) | Benedictine Mesa 0-2-0 (0-0-0)
Location: Legacy Sports Park - Mesa, AZ

STAT TRACKER
Cami Mercado - 3 goals, 6 shots
Justyne Underwood - 1 goal, 6 shots
Cadence Peroff - 3 shots
Rachel Clark - 2 shots
Brenna Sonsini - 8 saves

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Shots came early and often in this matchup, as both the Firestorm and RedHawks were aggressors. With only three fouls recorded the entire contest, each team took advantage of few stoppages in play. ACU's first five shots were all on goal and were struck by four different players only 12 minutes into the first half. Goalkeeper Brenna Sonsini and the Firestorm backline were put to the test when the 17th minute arrived, Benedictine Mesa firing off three shots in 90 seconds. After surviving the pressure on the defensive end, midfielder Cami Mercado broke free and scored an unassisted goal to give ACU a 1-0 lead.

Forward Justyne Underwood wasted no time as the second half began, increasing ACU's advantage to 2-0, with her first goal as a member of the Firestorm coming in the 52nd minute. A barrage of shots and corner kicks from Benedictine Mesa, however, sent ACU reeling and overpowered even the best that Sonsini could do. Dahlia Alonso scored first for the RedHawks and, following five successful save attempts from Sonsini, a second goal from Maya Shearon knotted the game at 2-2 with only 10 minutes of game time remaining.

A couple more corner kicks from the RedHawks had the Firestorm holding their breath, but Mercado managed to blitz the Benedictine Mesa defense with only three minutes to play, and scored a go-ahead goal. The top-scorer for ACU last season, Mercado put an exclamation mark on the win with a third goal in the final 30 seconds, slamming the door on the RedHawks 4-2.


NEXT MATCH

ACU Women's Soccer will return to ACU Football Field on Tuesday, August 29th for another piece of their non-conference schedule against Park Gilbert. The action gets rolling at 8:00 PM. If unable to attend in person, follow along with live stats at https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary or watch the live stream at https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian/.     

Roll Storm!