By Daijah White / Sports Editor

Missouri Valley College teams had a strong weekend across multiple sports, highlighted by a last-second field goal and determined performances from soccer, cross country and volleyball.

The Vikings fell behind 14-0 early in the first quarter. After Jayson Williams blocked a field goal, quarterback Tomele Staples connected with Marcus Stepanoff for an 11-yard touchdown. St. Ambrose added another score before halftime, and the Vikings trailed 21-7.

Four minutes into the half, Staples hit Khalil White for a 31-yard touchdown to make it 21-14. Jeremiah McNair blocked a 22-yard field goal attempt that brought the Vikings into scoring position. Staples found Nate Pouliot for another 11-yard touchdown to tie it 21-21.

The Bees regained the lead and Valley answered with a late touchdown but missed the extra point and trailed 28-27. With eight seconds left, Bruno Kincaid nailed a short field goal, and the Vikings took the 30-28 victory.

“Overall was great to see our kids show some fight to the very end to find a way to go 1-0,” head coach LaQuentin Black said. “There is still work to be done, just need to keep building brick by brick collectively.”

Valley football is now 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference and is scheduled to play William Woods on the 18th in Fulton, Missouri.

After an early Pirate goal, the Vikings’ women’s soccer team trailed in the first minute. Freshman Daniela Manzanares scored her first goal of the season after she put away a rebound off a kick from Marta Carrasco with just 16 seconds left in the first half.

In the second, the Vikings trailed again, but Carrasco and Judit Ferre traded goals to take control. Fabiana Vasquez sealed the 4-2 win with her first of the season. Ferre picked up her seventh goal of the year and was selected as Heart of America Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the first time this season.

Men’s soccer traded possession with the Pirates for most of the first half, which ended scoreless. The Vikings held the Pirates to no shots in the first half, but in the second, the Pirates found the first goal of the match and took the lead. A penalty kick and red card gave the Pirates a 2-0 advantage. Valley battled and played a man down for the last 21 minutes but could not find the net for a goal.

The women’s soccer team moved to 9-0-3 overall and 7-0-1 in the conference, and the men’s team is 5-4-3 and 3-3-2 in conference. Both teams played in Oskaloosa on Saturday against William Penn and returned with wins. The men topped the nationally ranked No. 6 team 1-0 with a goal by Fernando De Ornelas in the second half. The women won 2-0 after a long-range goal from Marta Carrasco, and the second was put away by Ashley Arribas.

Men’s and women’s cross country traveled to Iowa and competed in the Seminole Valley Stampede. Freshman Daniel Meneffe finished 88th overall in the 8K with a time of 27:08. He led Valley’s men, while sophomore Faraja Nyasa led the women after she ran a 30:04 6K and placed 153rd overall.

“We had two guys run under 30 minutes for the 8K and set PRs,” head coach Scott Roberts said. “This Friday we will go to Baker University for another strong test.”

After a loss to Missouri Baptist on Friday, the women’s volleyball team picked it right back up with a win at Culver-Stockton. The first set ended 25-17 and went to the Vikings, but the team came up short in the second set, which went to the Bobcats.

The teams traded points in the third set, but the Vikings won it in the end. Valley continued to rally in the fourth with a six-point run followed by a nine-point run and won the match three sets to one.

“We had a lot of good composure in that game,” Alana Burton said. “We caught ourselves slacking and came back.”

Juliana Oliveira ended the match with 13 kills, and Ana Franco had 19 digs. After a win Wednesday against Mission, the women are now 11-11 and 4-7 in conference after a recent loss to Central Methodist on Friday. The women have a rematch against Missouri Baptist on October 14.

More this week:
Golf vs. MidAmerican Nazarene
Rodeo at Arkansas–Monticello
Tennis vs. Evangel
Weightlifting at USA Weightlifting WSO Championship