(17) Missouri Valley wins match up of ranked opponents over (23) Women's Soccer

Women's Soccer dropped a tough home contest Wednesday evening.

The (22) Ravens lost to the (17) Missouri Valley College Vikings 2-1. The lone goal of the second half belonged to the Vikings, which turned out to be the game-winner.

With the score tied 1-1 at halftime, the Vikings came out on the attack early in the second half. MVC's Morgan Deerks worked her way through the Ravens backline and knocked a shot past Ravens keeper Olivia Berry to put the Vikings up 2-1.

MVC made that goal stick as the Ravens struggled to maintain possession enough to create offensive chances. The Ravens had 3 shots on goal in each half, but no serious threats in the second half.

The Vikings struck first late in the first half. Deerks was taken down in the box by Olivia Berry, earning the Vikings a Penalty Kick. Natalia Ruiz stepped to the spot and slotted home the PK to put MVC up 1-0 with 13:33 to play before halftime.

The Ravens found an equalizer just seconds before the halftime buzzer. The Vikings were called for a foul with 8 seconds to play, then had a player step in front of the ball to cause the head referee to stop the clock. Megan Homoly sent the free-kick into the box, it deflected off of Meagan Papin, and Emma Strecker was there to knock the ball into the net with 2 seconds before half to tie the game 1-1.

The Vikings notched 7 shots on goal in the game, with Berry making 5 saves for the Ravens. The teams were whistled for plenty of fouls in the 90 minutes; the Vikings were called for 22 and the Ravens were whistled for 17 fouls.

The Ravens are now 6-2 overall and 2-1 in Heart of America play. The loss snapped the Ravens six-game winning streak. Next up will be a road trip that begins Sept. 25 at Clarke University, then heads to Central Methodist University before the Ravens return home for a match Oct. 2 against William Penn University.