OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian men's soccer team is preparing to face the University of Science & Arts in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament for the second straight year as Evangels will host the Drovers for a 2 p.m. kickoff at Evangel Field on Tuesday.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (15-2-1) hosted Texas Wesleyan for the program's first ever home SAC Tournament match, but faced a stiff challenge from the Rams in the double overtime battle. Sophomore forward Rodrigo Albuquerque fired in the golden goal in the 102nd minute when Pero Mikulic's pass from the left side somehow squeezed through a compact Texas Wesleyan defense to Albuquerque on the right side of the box. The Brazilian sensation placed his shot perfectly under the crossbar on the right side to close out the victory.
Mikulic scored the go-ahead goal for the Evangels in the second half during the 51st minute before TWU's 53rd minute equalizer. Simon Wieschemann also cashed in his third penalty kick goal of the 2019 campaign.
SCOUTING THE DROVERS
Science & Arts enters Tuesday afternoon's contest as the No. 3 seed in the SAC Tournament after finishing the conference season with a 5-3 record and are 12-5-1 overall.
Much like the Evangels, the Drovers faced a tough challenge from the sixth-seed Oklahoma Panhandle State in the SAC Quarterfinals. The Aggies held a 1-0 lead late in the second half until Devon Charles scored a 78th minute equalizer, sending the game to an overtime period. In the extra session, Telmo Lertxundi knocked in the game-winner less than two minutes in to come away with the 2-1 win.
USAO is one of the top scoring offenses in the NAIA, ranking fourth in the nation in total goals (82) and goals per game (3.56) while being the top-rated team in shots per game (25) and shots on-goal per game (14.1). Despite the huge offensive numbers, the Drovers are a balanced squad with no one player having more than eight goals scored this season.
The scoring leaders for the team are junior mid Abdel Naid-Zerrad and Lertxundi with eight goals apiece. Senior mid Daniel Jones is USAO's top distributor with seven assists.
In goal, senior goalkeeper Daniel Merkel has been stellar since his first two conference games of the season. After conceding four goals to the Evangels on Sept. 27 and seven goals to John Brown on Nov. 5, the keeper has only given up two goals in the last six matches. Merkel enters the SAC Semifinal match with a 1.39 goals against average with 55 saves on a .743 save percentage.
HISTORY WITH THE DROVERS
The Evangels and Drovers have had a compelling back-and-forth rivalry the last few seasons. Mid-America Christian hosted USAO on Sept. 27 to open the SAC regular season and came away with a 4-0 victory. Dominik Tajak scored the game-winner in the 27th minute while Kieran Chance, Allan Sorato and Simon Van Rheeden contributed with second half scores to the victory. Sophomore goalkeeper Austen Parker helped spearhead an Evangels defense that limited the Drovers to just seven shots on-goal while Parker pitched in a season-high six in the winning effort.
The two teams also faced each other in last season's SAC Championship game, as the Evangels won their first conference championship in penalty kicks. After the two teams played to a 1-1 draw after regulation and two overtime periods. Van Rheeden converted the game-sealing kick for the Evangels, finishing with the 5-3 edge in PKs.
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
The winner of Tuesday's contest will play at top-seeded John Brown in the SAC Championship game. Not only will the Evangels look to return to the SAC Championship, but will also seek a third straight win against the Golden Eagles and their second win over JBU in an 11-day stretch.
While the Evangels are in the hunt for an at-large bid to the NAIA postseason tournament, MACU can secure an automatic bid if it defeats USAO in the semifinal and John Brown in the SAC Championship game on Saturday, Nov. 16.
ALBUQUERQUE SWEEPING THE WEEKLIES
After a stellar week on the pitch, Albuquerque was not only the recipient of the Sooner Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week award, but was also honored as the NCCAA Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week.
On top of scoring the golden goal against the Rams, Albuquerque recorded a goal and an assist on Caleb Roldan's game-winner in the Evangels' 3-1 win at John Brown on Tuesday. Despite not having any bearing on the conference seeding, it was a pivotal win for MACU with both teams are receiving votes in the NAIA soccer polls and each team is contending for a spot in the NAIA Tournament.
