Pride find equalizer but fall 2-1 to Pioneers in Heart Quarterfinals

OLATHE, Kan. - In a rematch of the same round of the 2024 Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament, the Clarke University women's soccer team was unable to exact their revenge on the road in 2025 in a 2-1 loss to MidAmerica Nazarene University on Wednesday afternoon.

Facing off for the second time this season after MNU earned a 3-1 win on Oct. 4, the Pride were unable to do what they did about a month ago and that was score first when the Pioneers netted the opening goal of the game in the 19th minute when Achaia Day was able to just sneak a ball just over the line despite the CU defense's best effort to keep it out of the goal to give the home team an early 1-0 lead.

That's where the game would stay on the scoreboard for the rest of the first half well into the second half when Clarke found some momentum with some aid from a steady wind at their back in the second half helped produce a constant amount of action in the Pride attacking third, including back-to-back corner kicks in the 73rd minute, the second of which would eventually make its way to junior Melony Jimenez, who found the perfect time to score her first goal of the season on a shot from the right side that was perfectly placed inside of the left post, tying the game at 1-1 with just over 16 minutes remaining.

The Pride continued to push getting another shot off and earning another corner kick within three minutes following the equalizer but the Pioneers would attack on the rush where Thayline Teixeira fired a shot that was blocked by a CU defender but would fall right at the feet of Bella Leon who was all alone behind the defense where she would essentially tap in her third goal of the season as the game-winner in the 81st minute to make it the eventual final score of 2-1.

MNU's two goals were scored despite a quality effort in net from freshman goalkeeper Abigail Turley for Clarke as the Riverside, Calif. native made a career-high six saves in her first collegiate postseason appearance, including some big second half saves that kept the game at 1-0 prior to the Jimenez equalizer.

In front of Turley, the Pride back line of Hailey Packer, Liv Turnquist, Morgan Lock, and Malia Silvers all played 90 minutes as well as holding midfielder Keylilah Gutierrez as the group was able to hold the Pioneers under their season average of goals per game despite MNU taking nearly their average amount of shots in a game at 15.

This result puts a cap on the Clarke women's soccer 2025 season as they qualified for their 10th-straight Heart Tournament appearance after their 6-6-1 record in conference play and their 7-9-2 overall record.

The Heart also announced the 2025 All Conference selections moments prior to kickoff of Wednesday's game where Lock, Packer, Jayden Black, and Abby Prunty were selected to All-Heart teams.

That full release can be found here: https://clarkepride.com/sports/wsoc/2025-26/releases/20251105m9v3el