OKLAHOMA CITY - The Mid-America Christian University men's soccer team entered their Senior Day matchup with Oklahoma City University knowing that they could clinch a home Sooner Athletic Conference tournament match with a victory over the Stars. OCU was in the same position, however, and they took advantage of the opportunity.
OCU (11-3, 6-2 SAC) got a five point performance from Petar Djurdjevic as the Stars spoiled MACU's (10-5, 5-4 SAC) Senior Day with a 4-1 win.
Mid-America had the first two great chances of the match. Near the end of the fourth minute, Andre Salvador robbed Rai Ramus with a great save, and just moments later, Seth Lidell hit the post after a MACU corner kick, and the Evangels seemed poised to carry the play. Just moments later, though, the Stars got on the board as Aboubakr Diallo took advantage of a missed clearance to give OCU the 1-0 lead. After Djurdjevic added a goal on a free kick in the 15th minute, Ramus got the Evangels on the board with his eighth goal of the season. Lidell chested down a pass into the box and slid a pass to Ramus who tapped it inside the right post to cut the OCU lead to 2-1 ang breathe some life back into the MACU offense.
Late in the first half, though, Djurdjevic struck again. He got loose in the box on a long throw-in from deep on the left wing side of the field and volleyed a shot inside the right post to restore OCU's two goal margin, and the Stars carried the 3-1 lead into halftime. MACU had some chances early in the second half, but they were unable to convert any of them, and in the 76th minute, Djurdjevic found James Beattie on the left wing side for a break away, and he curled a shot in for the final goal of the day, as OCU took a 4-1 win.
Andre Salvador earned the win in goal for OCU, and Liam Ward was hit with the loss for MACU between the pipes.
The Evangels are now locked into the fifth seed in the upcoming SAC tournament. They will play on the road on Saturday, November 3, but they will not know their opponent until the middle of the week when the final regular season matches are played.
