BETHANY, Okla. – The Mid-America Christian University men's soccer team faced a tough challenge on Saturday afternoon, heading to nearby Bethany, Oklahoma to take on the Southwestern Christian University Eagles. The match featured two of the top-five teams in the NCCAA Top-10 Rankings, while also carrying with it implications on the Sooner Athletic Conference race, and when the dust had settled, the Evangels found themselves on the short end of the decision.
MACU (9-4-1, 3-3-1 SAC) competed with SCU (13-3, 7-1 SAC), but the Evangels were unable to solve the Eagles' defense, and SCU claimed the win, 3-0.
Igor Stojanovic opened the scoring in the 25th minute, taking a long pass from Sean Wilson and lofting the shot over MACU goalkeeper Jakob O'Meara-Gill for the goal to put SCU up 1-0, and the Eagles carried that lead with them into halftime. In the 49th minute, SCU was awarded a penalty kick, and Lucas Loureiro converted to double the SCU lead, and he was not done. In the 87th minute, Loureiro lofted his second goal of the match into the net, and the tally provided the final margin of 3-0.
O'Meara-Gill (8-2-1) made three saves in the loss, while SCU's Caleb Swanepoel (10-2) made six stops in the shutout victory.
MACU will return home in search of much-needed points in the SAC race on Tuesday afternoon. At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, the Evangels will host the Lions of Southwestern Assemblies of God University (1-9-3, 0-5-1 SAC).
