OKLAHOMA CITY – After putting together the most successful regular season in program history, the Mid-America Christian men's soccer team had a record nine players earn Sooner Athletic Conference postseason honors, as announced by the conference office on Thursday.
Junior defender Dejue Johnson was selected as the SAC Defensive Player of the Year, headlining a group of four Evangels making the All-SAC First Team. Johnson was joined by senior forward Allan Sorato, junior defender Simon Wieschemann and sophomore goalkeeper Austen Parker.
Mid-America Christian had five players make the All-SAC Second Team list, including: sophomore forward Rodrigo Albuquerque, freshman forward Pero Mikulic, senior midfielder Stephen Nganga, junior midfielder Carlos Castrejon and freshman defender Fabian Forisch.
In his first season with the Evangels, Johnson was tabbed as the SAC Defensive Player of the Year after making 16 starts and playing full-time in 10 matches, tabbing the second-most minutes on the squad with 1322. The Linstead, Jamaica native scored his lone goal of the season against Oklahoma Baptist, but his biggest presence was felt on the defensive side as he helped lead the Evangels to 10 shutout victories and lead the conference with a .655 goals against average as well as allowing the opposition to take just 8.24 shots per game.
Earning All-SAC accolades for the second year in a row, Wieschemann was a First Team honoree as he has been an enormous part of the Evangels lockdown defense. Wieschemann tabbed a team-leading 1422 minutes and competed full-time in 13 of MACU's 16 matches. The Frankfurt, Germany product also has a pair of penalty kick goals to add to his repertoire, converting a free kick in MACU's 9-0 victory over Oklahoma Baptist on Sept. 23 as well as adding an insurance goal on a pk in a 2-0 win over Central Christian on Oct. 5.
In his final season with the Evangels, Sorato has led an offensive attack that set the program record for the most goals (70) and assists (59) in a single season. The Rio de Janiero, Brazil native scored a career-high 11 goals and four assists for a total of 26 points. Sorato notched a pair of single game records in MACU's 24-0 victory over Bacone College earlier this season, scoring five goals before finishing the match with 11 points to eclipse Dominik Tajak's previous program best of seven points set during the 2017 campaign.
In his first season as the starting goalkeeper at Mid-America Christian, Parker broke multiple program records in just regular season play alone, setting the single season record for goalkeeper wins with 14 while also finishing with a program-best 10 shutouts. The Piedmont, Okla. product led the SAC with a 0.63 goals against average and is on-pace to break the MACU single season save percentage record at .814.
A dynamic offensive performer, Albuquerque made phenomenal offensive plays regularly for the Evangels attack. The Recife, Brazil native finished tied for second on the team with eight goals and three assists for 19 points while tying for first on the squad with 50 shots and second with 27 landing on-target. Albuquerque scored his first two goals as an Evangel in a 5-0 victory over Bethel College and came up the dramatic game-winning goal with less than two minutes remaining in a 1-0 win over SAGU on Oct. 12.
Another fresh face in the Evangels lineup, Mikulic had an incredibly strong second half of the season to become one of MACU's top offensive threats. The Waiblingen, Croatia native matched Albuquerque with eight goals and three assists, as his breakout game was a two-goal effort in the Evangels' come-from-behind 5-2 victory at Sterling College in Sept. 7. In the win against Bacone, Mikulic finished right behind Sorato in the MACU record books for single match goals and points with four scores to go with nine points.
Spending his senior season with the Evangels, Nganga will be taking home Second Team accolades for his phenomenal work in the Evangels midfield. The Nairobi, Kenya product finished the regular season with six goals and four assists, including a pair of two-goal games. Nganga led the MACU comeback against LSU Shreveport, netting two second half goals including a game-tying score with 19 seconds left to send the game into overtime. Nganga recorded another two-goal effort in MACU's 9-0 victory over Oklahoma Baptist.
Castrejon joins his midfield mate after being a strong ball handler for MACU during the 2019 campaign. The Gainesville, Ga. native logged the third-most minutes for the Evangels at 1320 and was able to break through with his first goal of the season in MACU's 3-0 victory over Texas Wesleyan last week.
Rounding out the Evangels All-Conference recipients is Forisch, their phenomenal freshman defender from Erlangen, Germany. Forisch has been a strong part of the Evangels both offensively and defensively, netting two goals and dishing out six assists in 1293 minutes of work. Both of Forisch's scores were of the game-winning variety, pushing across the second half winner in MACU's 2-1 road victory at Wayland Baptist as well as the go-ahead goal in a 2-0 win against Oklahoma Panhandle State.
The second-seeded Mid-America Christian Evangels will host their first ever Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament match on Friday afternoon as the Evangels will host seventh-seeded Texas Wesleyan in a SAC Quarterfinal match, kicking off at 2 p.m. at Evangel Field.
