OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 20 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team will be looking to take the outright lead in the Sooner Athletic Conference on Tuesday as the Evangels will head to Bethany, Okla. for a 3 p.m. bout with Southwestern Christian.
LAST TIME OUT
Facing a stingy Southwestern Assemblies of God defense, Mid-America Christian (11-1, 4-0 SAC) won the match in thrilling fashion as Rodrigo Albuquerque netted the game-winner in the 89th minute to give the Evangels the 1-0 victory. Albuquerque's header was well-placed in the top right corner of the goal after a phenomenal cross from the right side corner by Fabian Forisch was perfectly placed to Albuquerque in the middle of the goal box.
Despite winning by the slimmest of margins, the Evangels dominated the contest, limiting SAGU to just two shots and one shot on-goal while MACU kept pace with their season average with 18 shots, but struggled to put its shots on-target with only seven strikes landing within the goal perimeter.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Southwestern Christian makes its way into Tuesday's matchup with a 6-5 overall record and a 4-1 mark in SAC play as the Eagles are currently the only team in the conference that are tied with the Evangels at the top of the conference standings with 12 points. SCU is coming off a pair of home victories last week, defeating Central Christian 3-1 on Oct. 9 before shutting out Oklahoma Panhandle State 3-0 on Saturday.
The Eagles present a balanced scoring attack as no one player has recorded more than eight points after notching 54 points collectively as a team. Junior forward Victor Arias has been the team's top producer this season with four goals while Shahali Fataliyev and Oliver Pardoe have each netted three goals.
SCU's primary goalkeeper this season has been freshman Gerard Espinalt, who has played in and started nine matches with 33 saves on a .702 save percentage while conceding just 14 goals. Espinalt is coming off a career-best nine save effort against Oklahoma Panhandle State.
HISTORY WITH THE EAGLES
The all-time series has been pretty even against the three-time NCCAA National Champions as the Evangels hold a 10-8-1 edge in the all-time series dating back to 2004. MACU will be looking to avenge a loss to the Eagles in last season's meeting, falling 2-0 on Oct. 23 at Evangel Field.
PARKER PULLING UP TO MILESTONE
Despite not getting much work against Southwestern Christian, sophomore goalkeeper Austen Parker reached a program milestone on Saturday. By recording his eighth shutout of the 2019 season, Parker tied Austen Custar and Jakob O'Meara-Gill for the most shutouts in a single season in MACU history. The Piedmont, Okla. product is currently one of the top goalkeepers in the nation, ranking sixth in the NAIA in goals against average (0.58) while the Evangels rank fourth nationally in shutouts (8) and shutouts per game (0.67).
DON'T SLEEP ON THE DEFENSE
As electrifying as the Mid-America Christian offense has been this season, the defense has been absolutely dominant since picking up a 9-0 victory over Oklahoma Baptist on Sept. 23. In the last six matches and 530 minutes of play, the Evangels have only given up one goal and have not allowed a score in the last 342 minutes of regulation. MACU has held its opponents to just three shots and one shot on-goal in the last three matches combined.
