OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian men's soccer team will close out its regular season with one of its toughest opponents thus far on Tuesday night as the Evangels will head to Siloam, Ark. to take on the 2019 Sooner Athletic Conference Regular Season Champions, John Brown for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (13-2-1, 6-1-1 SAC) locked up the No. 2 seed in the SAC Tournament on Senior Day Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Texas Wesleyan. Freshman forward Pero Mikulic scored the game-winning goal in the 23rd minute, Carlos Castrejon tallied his first goal with the Evangels and senior forward Allan Sorato headed in a goal in his final regular season match at Evangel Field.
Sophomore goalkeeper Austen Parker recorded his single-season program-record 13th win in goal for the Evangels and added to his MACU season record for shutouts with his 10th on the year.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
John Brown makes its way into Tuesday night's game at 14-0 with an 8-0 record in SAC action. The Golden Eagles are coming off a dominating 2-0 victory over Southwestern Christian on Saturday, limiting the Eagles to just two off-target shots in regulation.
John Brown and Mid-America Christian are the only two teams in the SAC that are scoring more than four goals per game while allowing less than a goal per match. The Golden Eagles rank second in the league with a 4.63 goals/g average and third in goals allowed average at 0.88.
The Golden Eagles attack is led by the two most prolific goal scorers in the SAC in freshman forward Jacob Zamarron and freshman midfielder Oscar Carballo. Zamarron leads the conference with 21 goals and nine assists for 51 points and Carballo has notched 18 goals and eight assists for a 44 points on the season.
Senior goalkeeper Britt Wisener has performed well in-goal for JBU during the 2019 campaign, allowing just 14 goals in 16 matches for a 0.99 goals against average. Wisener has made 32 saves for a .696 save percentage.
HISTORY WITH THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Mid-America Christian will be seeking just its second victory over John Brown as the Golden Eagles hold a 10-1-1 edge in the all-time series dating back to 2008. However, the Evangels will look to make it a winning streak as MACU won last season's meeting in Oklahoma City by a score of 3-0. Simon Van Rheeden, Allan Sorato and Caleb Roldan each netted goals for the Evangels in the victory.
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
No matter what Tuesday's result will be, the Evangels have the second seed locked up in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament and already know who their opponent will be. Mid-America Christian will face Texas Wesleyan for the second time in less than a week on Friday, Nov. 8 as the Rams have clinched the No. 7 seed in the conference tourney.
However, that doesn't mean Tuesday's match will be meaningless as both the Evangels and the Golden Eagles are jockeying for position to potentially host an NAIA Tournament match. With both teams receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 and each ranked in the Top 30 according to the latest MRPI (MACU – 23rd, JBU – 30th), the result could have huge postseason tournament implications.
BANNER YEAR
With the win over Texas Wesleyan on Saturday, the Mid-America Christian men's soccer team earned its 13th victory in a season for the third year in a row. The Evangels have recorded the most wins in a regular season in program history and will have at least three opportunities to surpass the program bench mark.
With MACU finishing second in the SAC regular season standings, it is also the Evangels best ever finish in the conference with the previous best being fifth in the last two seasons. By also finishing in the top four, Mid-America Christian will be hosting its first ever SAC Tournament match on Friday.
DEFENSIVE DYNAMO
Austen Parker continues to break program records in an incredible pace. Not only did Parker move into the program's lead for both single season wins and shutouts, but he also became the first MACU player to ever record three SAC Defensive Player of the Week honors in the same season. Parker earned the award this week after holding Texas Wesleyan scoreless while making four saves in the 90-minute contest.
Parker is currently on-pace to break two more MACU records. With a 0.61 goals allowed average, the Piedmont, Okla. native is a half-goal ahead of Jakob O'Meara-Gill's mark of 1.11 set during the 2017 season. Parker also currently has an .808 save percentage, which ranks second in the MACU single season record book if the season ended today. He is currently pursuing Tyler McIntosh for that record, who finished the 2012 campaign with a .815 save percentage.
