GREENVILLE, S.C. – After winning the NCCAA National Championship, the Mid-America Christian men's soccer team was well represented in the NCCAA postseason honors on Wednesday. For the first time in program history, five Evangels received NCCAA All-American honors, headlined by Stephen Nganga being named the NCCAA Player of the Year and MACU Head Coach Mitchell Sowerby tabbed as the NCCAA Coach of the Year.
Rodrigo Albuquerque joined Nganga on both the United Soccer Coaches All-America Team as well as the NCCAA First Team, Fabian Forisch and Allan Sorato earned Second Team accolades while Austen Parker rounded out the honorees with Third Team accolades.
In his first season as head coach of the Evangels, Sowerby took the Mid-America Christian men's soccer team to new heights, leading the program to its first ever NCCAA National Championship as well as its first NCCAA Central Region Championship since 2013. During the 2019 campaign, the Evangels shattered the single season program wins mark by going 20-3-1, eclipsing the previous best of 13 set in each of the last two seasons.
Under Sowerby's guidance, the Evangels had unprecedented balance on both the offensive and defense ends as MACU broke several program offensive and defensive records. In the attack, the Evangels set new records in goals scored (93), assists (81), points (267), shots (460) and shots on-goal (235). On the defensive side of the field, the Evangels defense allowed a program-low 0.9 goals per game while pitching 13 shutouts, topping the previous best of eight set in each of the last two seasons.
In his lone season at Mid-America Christian, Nganga played an instrumental role on both the offensive and defensive sides of the field. The Nairobi, Kenya native scored seven goals and tallied seven assists while logging 1712 minutes, the fifth-most on the team. It was an accolade filled year for the senior mid after being named to the NCCAA All-Tournament Team, the NCCAA All-Central Region First Team and the All-Sooner Athletic Conference Second Team.
Joining the Evangels before the start of the 2019 season, Albuquerque put together one of the finest offensive seasons in the history of the program. His team-leading 15 goals tied Sorato and Raphael Bonelle for the second-most goals scored in a single season in MACU history. The Recife, Brazil native also took the second-most shots in a single season (93) and put the third-most shots on-goal (43). Albuquerque earned the honor after being selected as the NCCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player while also garnering All-NCCAA Central Region First Team honors and All-SAC Second Team accolades.
Sorato was also an elite level threat on the offensive end for the Evangels during his senior season. The forward from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil matched Albuquerque with a team-leading 15 goals while tallying a team-high 36 points, the third-most in a single season at MACU. On Oct. 8 against Bacone College, Sorato recorded a single-game program record five goals and 11 points in just 37 minutes of play. In his final match in an Evangels uniform, Sorato scored two goals, including the game-winning goal to lead MACU to a 5-0 victory over Grace College (Ind.) in the NCCAA National Championship game on Dec. 7. On top of receiving All-American honors, Sorato was an All-NCCAA Central Region Second Team honoree while also garnering All-SAC First Team accolades. Sorato ends his MACU career as the third-most prolific goal scorer in the history of the program (20) as well as points (48) while finishing fifth in career assists (8).
In his first season at Mid-America Christian, Forisch proved to be a dynamic outside back for the Evangels. The freshman defender from Erlangen, Germany led the Evangels with eight assists, tying Bonelle, Willy Deleon and current MACU teammate Pero Mikulic for the most assists in a single season in program history. Forisch scored three goals in his rookie season, including a pair of game-winning goals against Wayland Baptist and Oklahoma Panhandle State while logging the third-most minutes on the team with 1853. Forisch adds the All-American honor after being selected to the All-NCCAA Central Region First Team as well as being selected to the All-SAC Second Team.
Parker rounds out the honorees as one of the most highly accomplished goalkeepers in the history of the MACU program. In his first season at MACU, the sophomore keeper from Piedmont, Okla. broke several program goalkeeping records over the course of the 2019 campaign. With 20 wins as the starting goalkeeper, not only did Parker break Jakob O'Meara-Gill's single season wins record (13), but also surpassed Tyler McIntosh for career wins (19). Parker also notched 13 shutouts, which topped both O'Meara-Gill (8) for the single season and McIntosh (11) for career shutouts. Parker was also an All-NCCAA Central Region Second Team honoree as well as an All-SAC First Team selection.
Mid-America Christian finished with more NCCAA All-American honorees than any other season in the program's existence. The most All-Americans the Evangels produced in one season previously was two during the 2018 season when Simon Wieschemann and Oliver May each received Second Team honors as well as 2013 when Bonelle and Kevin Cabello were tabbed as Second Team All-Americans.
It is also the first time the Evangels received the superlative awards as Nganga is the program's first ever NCCAA Player of the Year and Sowerby is MACU's first ever NCCAA Coach of the Year.
