KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Mid-America Christian University men's soccer team scored their first goal of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Championship in dramatic fashion to end the first half of their final pool play match on Tuesday evening, and leading 1-0 at the break, the Evangels hopes were alive to continue play in the tournament.
Less than five minutes into the second half, however, those hopes were dashed.
Dominik Tajak scored his 23rd goal of the season with 8.4 seconds to go in the first half, but MACU (13-7-3) was unable to make the lead stick, as Bethesda University (Calif.) (16-2-1) scored thrice in the second half to take the 3-1 win.
The Evangels generated multiple chances early, but the snake-bitten MACU offense was unable to cash them in. After a slow start, MACU earned a corner kick in the 15th minute, and Todd Wallace appeared to have a wide-open goal, but he rang his shot off the crossbar, and it bounced straight down before being cleared away to keep the match scoreless. In the 31st minute, Tajak had two chances in less than a minute, but both of his shots were saved by Flames goalkeeper Oscar Gomez, and another shot from Wallace went wide. As the clock wound down in the half, it appeared the match would head to the break scoreless, but in the final minute, MACU finally broke through.
With just 8.4 seconds remaining in the half, Tajak took a pass from Andres Ochoa and dribbled around Gomez, putting the ball into the open goal to give MACU the 1-0 lead. Bethesda got a possession and managed to send the ball toward the box, but as time ran out Jakob O'Meara-Gill grabbed the ball, and at the half, MACU held a 1-0 lead.
The second half, however, was all Bethesda. Eduardo Faria scored in the 49th minute to equalize as he rifled a shot into the upper reaches of the net from the top left corner of the box. MACU, knowing they had to win to give themselves a chance to advance, tried to build an attack, but in the 73rd minute, Jun Mo Ryu scored after a collision in the MACU box left him open to put the Flames on top. Ryu added a second goal just four minutes later, taking advantage of a 4-on-2 break as MACU pressed to try and create an equalizer, and he chipped a shot over O'Meara-Gill from distance, providing the final margin of 3-1.
Oscar Gomez (6-1-1) made a pair of saves and allowed one goal in the win, while O'Meara-Gill (12-5-3) stopped three shots in his final game as an Evangel. Liam Ward came into the match and played the final moments for MACU in goal, making a pair of saves.
The loss ends one of the most successful seasons in MACU men's soccer history, along with the collegiate careers of O'Meara-Gill, Oscar Ochoa, Benji Hutchison, Brad Bennions, Martin Mata, and Andres Ochoa.
