OKLAHOMA CITY – The top-seeded Mid-America Christian men's soccer team will start its quest for a first ever National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Championship as the Evangels are ready to start pool play this week at the Austin-Tindall Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Fla.
MACU will open the tournament against No. 9 seed Piedmont International (N.C.) at noon on Monday before rounding out pool play against sixth-seeded Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) at noon on Wednesday. The NCCAA Semifinals will take place on Friday afternoon and the National Championship match is slated for 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (16-3-1) won its first NCCAA Central Region Championship since 2013 back on Nov. 22, taking down the reigning three-time NCCAA National Champion Southwestern Christian by a score of 6-3 at Evangel Field. The NCCAA Division I Offensive Player of the Week Rodrigo Albuquerque recorded his first ever five-point game with the Evangels, tallying a pair of goals and an assist while freshman forward Pero Mikulic recorded his third multi-goal match with MACU after putting in two scores. Rai Ramus kicked in the game-winner in the 31st minute while Tiuri Schieving notched his third goal of the season in the victory.
SCOUTING THE BRUINS
Piedmont International will enter the NCCAA National Championships with a 9-6-2 record upon receiving an automatic berth to the national tournament after taking down Brewton-Parker 3-2 in double overtime of the NCCAA South Region Championship on Nov. 16.
The Bruins are led on the offensive end by sophomore midfielder Mario Salinas with nine goals and six assists for 24 points while sophomore forward Francisco Tapia has also chipped in nine goals and four assists for 22 points.
Sophomore keeper Jeremiah Gibbs has seen the lion's share in goal for PIU during the 2019 season, appearing in 13 matches and making 12 starts while conceding just 17 goals (1.34 goals against average) as well as making 31 saves (.646 save percentage).
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
Roberts Wesleyan makes its way into the NCCAA National Championships as the Central Region Champion, finishing with a 10-8-1 record and knocked off Lancaster Bible College 2-1 in the regional championship match on Nov. 20.
The Redhawks are led by the fourth-best goal scorer in the NCCAA in sophomore forward Dylan Ruiz, who has notched 18 goals and three assists for 39 points. The only other RWC player to reach the 20-point plateau on the season is senior forward Terrell Spencer, who has six goals and a team-leading eight assists.
The likely starter in goal for the Redhawks is freshman keeper Jared Gibbons. Through 15 matches and 13 starts, Gibbons is giving up just 1.79 goals per match and has made a team-high 59 saves (.720 save percentage).
YOUTH MOVEMENT
While the balanced MACU attack set a program-record 82 goals during the campaign, the offensive attack has seen stellar play from a pair of underclassmen. In just his second collegiate season, Albuquerque leads the Evangels with 13 goals, the third-most goals scored in a single season in MACU history. The Recife, Brazil product is only behind current senior forward Dominik Tajak, who recorded the program's record of 23 during the 2017 campaign and is just two away from tying Raphael Bonnelle's second-best mark set during the 2013 season. In just his first college campaign, Mikulic is just a goal away from breaking into the program's top five single season scoring list heading into the NCCAA National Championships. The Waiblingen, Croatia native has impressively pushed across 11 goals in just 688 minutes of action while efficiently finding the back of the net on 56.8 percent of his shots on-goal.
GETTING HEALTHY AT THE RIGHT TIME
After suffering a slew of injuries during the course of the 2019 season, the Evangels are nearly back to full strength heading into the NCCAA National Championships. After missing significant time during his senior season, Ramus has made a big impact in his return to the lineup just before the start of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. In the regional championship match, Ramus notched three points off a goal and an assist. After missing a month of action, the Evangels also recently got back starting defender Endri Copa just before the start of the conference tournament. Before his injury, Copa appeared in 12 matches and made 11 starts while dishing out three assists. Schieving has been a welcome return to the Evangels lineup after missing a couple of weeks in October and saw limited action during the SAC Tournament. In the victory over SCU in the NCCAA Central Region Championship, Schieving logged the most minutes since MACU's 2-1 loss at Southwestern Christian on Oct. 15, finishing with a goal and an assist in 86 minutes of action.
