ST. LOUIS— [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist women's soccer scored two first half goals and held off a late charge to defeat Park University (Mo.) 2-1 in the AMC Game of the Week on Wednesday afternoon at Spartan Field. The win assured the Spartans one of the top two seeds in the upcoming AMC tournament while also keeping hopes of a regular season title alive.
 
Knowing they needed a win to keep pace with first place Columbia, the Spartans started fast and were on the front foot for the majority of the opening half. With just over 30 minutes to go, Miranda Pratt found Casey Gutting at the top of the Park penalty area. Gutting sidestepped a Pirates' defender and placed a perfect strike into the upper left hand corner of the net, leaving Park goalkeeper Alyssa Gregory no chance. It was Gutting's eighth goal of the season and Pratt's sixth assist.
 
The visiting Pirates would battle back over the next 20 minutes but MBU goalkeeper Jemica Artillaga was up to the task with two key saves. Defenders Jackie Hagan and Brianna Merchant were also vital in shutting down Park freshman attacker Lenvix Ochieng. The native of Mombasa City, Kenya came into the day with an AMC-leading 21 goals.
 
The solid defense would lead to offense late in the first half. A Pirates' turnover left Cassandra Willhite holding possession in her own half. The senior played a long ball through the Park defense and Riley Janvrin was able to run onto it. Gregory came out to challenge the breakaway but Janvrin was able to slip it past the visiting keeper and into the open goal. The Hazelwood Central product's seventh of the year gave Missouri Baptist a 2-0 halftime lead.
 
The Pirates went all-in in the second half in an attempt to get back in the game. Jemica Artillaga continued to stand tall in her net and the Spartans' received defensive contributions from the entire lineup in an effort to preserve the lead.
 
Park finally cut the deficit in half with 11 minutes to go in the game. It was Ochieng who found just enough space to rifle a shot off the underside of the crossbar and in for her 22^nd goal of the season.
 
The goal made for a nervy final stretch but the Spartans' survived and extended their unbeaten streak to 12 games. They moved to 9-4-3 overall and 9-0-2 in the AMC with their fifth consecutive win. Park finished the regular season at 9-3 in conference play.  
 
Missouri Baptist will welcome Lindenwood-Belleville to Spartan Field for the final match of the regular season on Saturday afternoon. Before that happens, however, MBU will keep a close eye on the result of the Columbia-William Woods match on Friday. If the Cougars don't come out with all three points against the Owls, the Spartans can earn at least a share of the regular season conference title with a win against the Lynx.
 
Kickoff on Saturday will be 12 pm. Prior to the game, there will be a short ceremony to honor the Spartans' nine seniors. There will be no live broadcast due to the MBU Homecoming Football game happening next door at CBC Stadium but live stats and updates will be available at SpartanDigitalNetwork.com.