PLAINVIEW, Texas - In their first nine seasons in the NAIA and the Sooner Athletic Conference, the Mid-America Christian University men's soccer team was unable to find a victory in SAC tournament play. In their last four matches, MACU has two wins and a draw, and for the first time in program history the Evangels are headed to the SAC title match.
MACU (12-5) never trailed in the match, and with just over 11 minutes remaining, Tiuri Schieving volleyed home the eventual game winner, as the Evangels ousted the Wayland Baptist University Pioneers (13-4)
From the opening kickoff, the Evangels employed a defense first strategy. The MACU formation focused first on keeping the ball on the perimeter of the field, and the Evangels relied on their athletic back line, which was bouyed by the return of Djibril Fofana. The Evangels also relied on a couple of timely saves from senior goalkeeper Dan McNicholas and in the 26th minute, MACU broke through.
Allan Sorato served a free kick in from the right wing side, and after a missed clearance, Mouhamadou Cisse laced a volley into the upper right corner of the goal to give MACU the 1-0 lead.
After the goal, MACU further entrenched the defense first strategy. The Evangels only got one more shot in the first half, but McNicholas made a pair of nice saves in the last 17 minutes of the first half, including a beautiful diving stop on Federico Ucar with less than 3 minutes left. As Wayland continued to press, the Evangels frustrated every attempt, and at intermission, MACU led 1-0.
The Evangels opened with a similar strategy in the second half, but four and a half minutes in, a mis-communication nearly led to an own goal to tie the game. The Pioneers did find the back of the net in the 53rd minute, when Emiliano Fama volleyed home a free kick from Ucar to tie the match at 1-1, and the goal forced MACU to alter the strategy. MACU began to open up the formation a bit, and in the 79th minute, MACU regained the lead. Rai Ramus sent a free kick into the box, and it found the foot of Tiuri Schieving, who fired it home for the eventual game-winning goal, as MACU took the lead on their way to the 2-1 win.
McNicholas (4-0) picked up the win despite allowing his first goal of the season, and he made four saves in the match. Ziggy Camejo took the loss for Wayland Baptist, as he allowed two goals and made only one save.
MACU moves on to the Sooner Athletic Conference championship match where they will face the winner of the semifinal between John Brown University and the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma. If JBU advances, the match will take place at MACU, and if USAO is able to advance, the match will take place in Chickasha, Oklahoma. The time of the match is still to be announced.
