FORT WORTH, Texas – The Mid-America Christian University men's soccer team hit the road on Friday night for their final regular season away match of the year, and after stubbing their toes at home on Tuesday, the Evangels got back on track at Texas Wesleyan University.
MACU (10-3, 5-2 SAC) picked up a 2-0 win over the Rams (6-7-1, 2-4-1 SAC) to move into a first place tie in the Sooner Athletic Conference with one week to go in the regular season.
MACU had a couple of chances in the first half, but Bastian Blumenberg was equal to the task for Texas Wesleyan and made saves on both shots on goal. MACU out-shot the Rams 6-2 in the opening 45, which was contentious as the Rams were issued three yellow cards, but at the half, the match remained scoreless.
In the second half, MACU continued to push forward, and in the 57th minute, junior Rai Ramus broke the ice. Ramus netted his seventh goal of the season, an unassisted tally that gave MACU the 1-0 lead. The Evangels continued to attack, and in the 73rd minute, Diego Romero found Djbril Fofana who fired home his second goal of the season to double the MACU lead. That proved to be plenty of offense, as Liam Ward earned his fifth shutout of the season, and MACU took the win 2-0.
Ward (8-3) took the win in goal, making one save, and Blumenberg was hit with the loss with a pair of saves.
The win moves MACU into a first place tie with Wayland Baptist University, who have a game in hand over MACU, but with whom the Evangels hold the tiebreaker. The teams are knotted with 15 points atop the Sooner Athletic Conference table.
MACU will return home for two crucial SAC matches in the season's final week. The Evangels will host the NAIA #18 Southwestern Christian University Eagles (12-2-1, 4-1-1 SAC) on Tuesday at 3 p.m. before they wrap up the season on Friday with a Senior Day tilt with the Oklahoma City University Stars (9-3, 4-2 SAC).
