By Kary Patron/News Editor

The Missouri Valley College women’s soccer team won the Heart of America Athletic Conference postseason championship, defeating Central Methodist University 3-2 on Nov. 11. This victory marks the first postseason conference tournament title in the program’s history. MVC improved its record to 15-4-2 this season.

The team earned an automatic berth into the 2023 NAIA Women’s Soccer National Tournament, marking its fourth consecutive appearance.

Goalkeeper Lola Benitez made five saves. Miluska Guevara scored two unassisted goals, and Ashley Arribas netted the final goal with an assist from Guevara.

Arribas scored the winning goal six minutes before the game ended. This game marked her 12th consecutive match with at least one goal and her 10th game-winning goal of the season. The goal was also Arribas’ 19th of the season, tying her with Tiffany Shaw (2004) for the program’s single-season goal record.

Missouri Valley had previously faced CMU during the regular season, losing 4-2, which earned CMU the regular-season conference title and the top seed for the postseason tournament. MVC was the second seed.

In the playoffs, Valley defeated the No. 7 seed Clarke in the quarterfinals and the No. 3 seed MidAmerica Nazarene in the semifinals. Central Methodist faced the No. 8 seed Baker in the quarterfinals and the No. 4 seed Benedictine in the semifinals.