OKLAHOMA CITY – After completing the most successful regular season in program history, the Mid-America Christian men's soccer team will host Southwestern Christian for the NCCAA Central Region Championship match on Friday, Nov. 22. Kick-off for the championship tilt is slated for 2 p.m. at Evangel Field.
The winner of Friday's match will receive an automatic bid to the NCCAA National Championships being held at the Austin-Tindall Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Fla. from Dec. 2-7.
The Evangels will host the Eagles after Southwestern Christian (9-8-2) defeated Central Christian in the NCCAA Central Region Semifinal on Nov. 18. The two squads played to a scoreless draw through regulation and two overtime periods, setting up penalty kicks to decide the victor. SCU ended up outlasting CCC 3-1 in PKs to advance to the NCCAA Central Region Championship match.
Mid-America Christian (15-3-1) finished off a milestone season by recording its record-setting 14th win with a 3-1 victory at John Brown in the season finale. That win not only set the record for the most regular season wins, but total season wins, eclipsing the previous high of 13 set in the previous two seasons. The Evangels added one more for good measure with a 3-2 victory in double overtime against Texas Wesleyan in the SAC Quarterfinals before losing a hard-fought 4-3 match to Science & Arts in the SAC Semifinal on Nov. 12.
The Evangels will be looking to get revenge on the Eagles as Southwestern Christian was the only team in the Sooner Athletic Conference to defeat MACU in conference play. The Evangels dropped a double overtime heartbreaker in Bethany, Okla. on Oct. 15 as the Eagles scored the golden goal in the 104th minute to hand MACU a bitter 2-1 defeat.
Mid-America Christian will be competing in its second NCCAA Central Region Championship match in the last three years. The last time MACU played in the Central Region tournament, the Evangels topped McMurry 2-0 in the Semifinal to set up a championship match against the same Southwestern Christian squad. The Evangels will be seeking a different result this time around as MACU fell to Southwestern Christian 4-3 in penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 draw on Nov. 17, 2017.
