MESA, Ariz. – The Mid-America Christian University men's soccer team put together a strong defensive effort in its first regular season match of the 2019 season, limiting Benedictine University of Mesa to just three shots on-goal to pick up the 2-0 win on Friday night.

Dominik Tajak, the Evangels leading scorer from the 2017 season netted MACU's first goal of the season in the 28^th minute while Caleb Roldan added some insurance in the second half with a goal in the 73^rd minute to seal the first victory of the season.

The Redhawks were able to get the early momentum in the match, outshooting MACU by a 3-1 margin through the first 25 minutes, but the Evangels defensive backfield limited BenU Mesa to just one shot on-goal during the stretch with the save made by sophomore goalkeeper Austen Parker.

Mid-America Christian was able to turn the tide of the match with 17:29 on the clock when senior midfielder Stephen Nganga found Tajak and the senior forward found the back of the net to make it a 1-nil Evangels advantage.

Neither squad was able to get any sort of rhythm on the offensive end during the final stretch of the first half as MACU's Simon Van Rheeden was the only player to muster a shot on-goal and the Evangels took its one-goal lead into the halftime break.

Benedictine had a couple chances at an equalizer early in the second half, but Parker was able to make a pair of saves in the 47^th and 65^th minutes to keep the Redhawks off the board.

With just under 17 minutes remaining in the second half, Roldan found the back of the net for his 10^th career goal, making it a 2-0 MACU lead.

The Evangels were able to close out the match strong, not allowing BenU Mesa to take a single shot in the final 19 minutes of regulation.

In a tightly contested defensive match where the Redhawks outshot MACU 7-6 with both teams placing three shots on-goal, MACU took advantage of the limited opportunities by scoring on two of its three opportunities.

In his first start in goal with Mid-America Christian, Parker picked up the win after recording three saves in 90 minutes of action.

The Evangels will look to take the momentum into their next match as MACU will challenge No. 21 Arizona Christian on Labor Day at 3:30 p.m. (CST) in Phoenix.