OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian University men's soccer team posted a pair of shutout victories last week, keeping alive their hopes of hosting a Sooner Athletic Conference quarterfinal match, and on Monday, the Evangels were rewarded with a pair of SAC Weekly Awards.
MACU's Dominik Tajak was named the SAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, and Jakob O'Meara-Gill was tabbed as the SAC Defensive Player of the week after they helped lead MACU to their 10th and 11 wins of the season – wins that helped MACU tie the program record for wins in a single season. The award is the first of the season for O'Meara Gill, while Tajak has claimed his fourth such award of 2017. Tajak was also named the NCCAA's Men's Soccer Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week for the same performances. It is his first NCCAA award.
O'Meara-Gill – a 5-11 senior goalkeeper from Balnarring, Australia – earned his seventh shutout of the season on Friday afternoon against the University of Science & Arts (Okla.), setting a new MACU single season shutout record for goalkeepers. In the match he made five saves, but none was bigger than a save on a penalty kick in the 38th minute that kept the match scoreless and eventually allowed the Evangels to take the 1-0 win. He also played 80 minutes in a combined shutout of Southwestern Assemblies of God University on Tuesday afternoon. O'Meara-Gill is also tied for the SAC lead in shutouts this season with seven.
Tajak – a 6-6 junior forward from Erlangen, Germany – tallied a pair of game winning goals in the Evangels' two matches, and three total goals on the week, as he became the first SAC men's soccer player to reach the 20-goal plateau in a single season since 2011. Tajak scored on a penalty kick in the second half of the Evangels' win over SAGU on Tuesday, and in that match, he added a second goal in the waning minutes to put the match out of reach. On Friday afternoon against USAO, Tajak drew a foul in the box with 20:49 left on the clock, and he scored the PK for the only goal of the match. The win marked the first time in program history that MACU had defeated USAO on the field.
MACU will celebrate senior day on Tuesday afternoon when they host the Rams of Texas Wesleyan University (4-10-1, 2-6-1 SAC) at 3 p.m. A win, coupled with a loss from USAO against John Brown University would clinch the Evangels a home match in the SAC Quarterfinals on Thursday.
