KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Mid-America Christian University men's soccer team opened their 2017 run in the National Christian College Athletic Association Division I Men's Soccer National Championship on Monday evening, taking on the tournament's #3 Seed - the Indiana Wesleyan University Wildcats – in the final match of the first day of pool play.
The Evangels (13-6-3) struggled to keep the pressure off their defense for much of the match, and Indiana Wesleyan (11-7-2) scored late to grab the 1-0 win
In the first half, the Wildcats controlled play. IWU out-shot MACU 6-2 in the period, with MACU's two shots both missing the frame. Meanwhile, senior netminder Jakob O'Meara-Gill had to make three saves, including a pair of diving stops, to keep the sheet clean, and at the half, the match remained scoreless.
Dominik Tajak had a chance to get the Evangels on the board in the 52nd minute, but his first shot was saved by Wildcats' goalkeeper Andrew Wick and the match remained deadlocked. The Wildcats began ratcheting up the pressure as the second half went along, and in the 85th minute, they broke through. Glauber Olivera took a pass from Nico Matern and rifled it into the upper reaches of the net, past O'Meara-Gill to give Indiana Wesleyan the 1-0 lead late.
MACU turned up the heat, and in the 87th minute, they were awarded a penalty kick after a foul in the box was whistled against the Wildcats. Sage Moore stepped up to take the PK, and he fired it to the bottom left corner, but Wick guessed right, and made the diving one-handed save to thwart the opportunity, and the Evangels were unable to equalize in the final minutes, falling 1-0.
O'Meara-Gill (12-4-3) made three saves in the loss, while Wick (8-3) made two saves in earning his fifth shutout of the season.
MACU must now win and get help to advance to the NCCAA Semifinal round. The Evangels will play their final pool play match on Tuesday at 5 p.m. central time when they battle the Flames of Bethesda University (Calif.) (15-2-1).
