OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 23 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team will be wrapping up its four-match home stand this weekend with the start of Sooner Athletic Conference play as the Evangels will host the University of Science & Arts (Okla.) on Friday afternoon at Evangel Field.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 23 Mid-America Christian (6-1) is coming off its most dominant victory of the season, defeating Oklahoma Baptist 9-0 on Monday. Seven different players scored in the rout while MACU's leading goal scorer Stephen Nganga continued to add to his team lead with a pair of goals and Rai Ramus, the squad's leading scorer from last season made a big impact in his first match of the year, netting a pair of goals in the contest.
SCOUTING THE DROVERS
Science & Arts enters Friday's contest with a 4-2-1 record through seven non-conference matches. The Drovers were ranked No. 23 in the NAIA Top 25 Preseason Poll and were predicted to win the Sooner Athletic Conference in the initial preseason poll.
However, the Drovers' 2019 campaign got off to a rocky start, going 0-2-1 in their first three matches. USAO has since won four straight, most recently coming off a 25-0 victory at Bacone College last Saturday.
The Drovers balanced attack this season is led by forward Devon Charles and midfielder Damilola Olusesi. Charles and Olusesi have each recorded five goals while freshman midfielder Angelo Leendertse has made his impact felt with a team-high 13 points off of four goals and five assists.
The likely starter in goal for USAO will be senior Daniel Merkel. The Waterloo, Ontario, Canada product has started six of the Drovers' seven matches, recording a 4-1-1 record by conceding just six goals and made 26 saves with a .960 save percentage.
HISTORY WITH THE DROVERS
USAO holds 9-2-2 edge in the all-time series, but Mid-America Christian has given the Drovers fits the past three seasons. After Science & Arts won the first eight matches in the series, the Evangels have gotten the better of USAO, topping the Drovers in four of the last five matches. MACU is 2-1-2 against the Drovers since 2016 and have defeated USAO twice in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament on penalty kicks in the two draws.
The last time the two teams met was in last season's SAC Championship match as Kieran Chance netted the equalizer in the 64th minute and the two teams remained tied through the rest of regulation and two overtime periods. In the penalty kick shootout, Simon Van Rheeden came through with the game-deciding goal that sealed the Sooner Athletic Conference Championship victory.
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN
In the Evangels' 9-0 victory over the Bison on Monday, seven different players scored for MACU to get its first victory over Oklahoma Baptist since 2013. The last time seven players recorded goals in a single match for Mid-America Christian was last season's 12-0 victory at Dallas Christian, where eight players notched goals. Chance, Van Rheeden and Tiuri Schieving each netted a pair of goals in the victory.
Speaking of seven, the Evangels will be pursuing just their second 7-1 start to a season in the program's history. The only other time Mid-America Christian started off the year by winning seven of their first eight happened last year during the Evangels' program record-setting 13-6-1 season and first ever appearance in the NAIA national tournament.
SCORING IN BUNCHES
Friday's match could be a high-scoring affair. With 28 goals through the first seven matches, the Mid-America Christian men's soccer team ranks 16th in NAIA Division I with a four goals per game average. However, Science & Arts also currently ranks second in the NAIA at 5.71 goals per game. On the same token, the Drovers have only scored more than three goals in a match twice this season while the Evangels have netted more than three goals in four of their seven matches this year.
Nganga currently leads the team with five goals and scoring on all five of his shots on-goal while Rodrigo Albuquerque is second on the squad with four goals on a team-high 23 shots and 14 shots on-goal.
HIGH STAKES
Despite being the first match of the Sooner Athletic Conference season, Friday's game could be crucial in deciding the 2019 SAC regular season champion. USAO and Mid-America Christian were picked as the two favorites in the SAC Preseason Poll, with the Drovers getting 76 votes and five first place votes and the Evangels receiving 67 votes and three first place votes.
