OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian men's soccer team will be looking for their first win of the 2020-21 season away from the friendly confines of Evangel Field as the Evangels will head to Wichita, Kansas on Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. matchup with Manhattan Christian (Kan.) at the Stryker Sports Complex.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian faced off against Arizona Christian in a challenging non-conference matchup at Evangel Field on Oct. 8, but the Evangels were able to stifle the Firestorm attack, limiting a strong offensive team to just six shots, three of which on-goal in a 2-0 victory.
For the third consecutive time this season, junior forward
Rodrigo Albuquerque netted the game-winning goal on a penalty kick in the 27
th minute after drawing a foul inside the goal box.
The Evangels added an insurance goal in the second half as
Dante Luz was able to score his first goal in a MACU uniform off some excellent passing by Albuquerque and
Hector Valles to bring the advantage to 2-nil with just over 18 minutes left.
Senior goalkeeper
Juan Cediel finished the game with three saves, one of which coming on a phenomenal leaping effort off a free kick with just over three minutes left to earn his second shutout of the season.
SCOUTING THE THUNDER
Heading into a Friday night home match against Faith Christian Bible (Iowa), Manhattan Christian is currently on a roll, winning its last six matches after dropping the first two of the season to Central Christian (Kan.) and Tabor (Kan.).
The top scoring team at the NCCAA Division II level will be headlined by Angel Garcia, who has scored 13 goals and dished out four assists for 30 points through eight matches this season. Corey Bates and Nate Awbrey will also provide a challenge to the Evangels defense as the team's assist leaders with five are also strong strikers in their own right with eight and six goals, respectively.
Steven Ortiz-Ortiz will be the likely starter in goal for the Thunder as he is currently giving up just a 1.46 goals against average and has made 22 saves on a .786 save percentage.
HISTORY WITH THE THUNDER
Mid-America Christian and Manhattan Christian will be facing each other for the first time in the programs' respective histories.
CEDIEL SAVING IT
Despite Mid-America Christian missing its All-American goalkeeper in
Austen Parker so far during the fall portion of the season, the Evangels have been getting stellar play out of senior keeper
Juan Cediel. Through three matches this season, the Bogota, Columbia native is allowing a 0.33 goals against average, which currently leads the Sooner Athletic Conference and has made seven saves for a .875 save percentage. For his defensive efforts against the Firestorm, Cediel was named the SAC Defensive Player of the Week, the third in a row for the Evangels after senior defender
Simon Wieschemann earned the award in back-to-back weeks.
GETTING INTO AN OFFENSIVE RHYTHM
Even though the Evangels have dominated in the possession, MACU will be looking to get into a rhythm on the attack and capitalize on scoring opportunities. So far this season, Mid-America Christian is averaging 2.67 goals per game on 19.3 shots per game, scoring on 13.8 percent of its opportunities. The Evangels will be looking to get back on their 2019 record pace, as the NCCAA National Champions tallied 3.92 goals per game while scoring on 20.4 percent of their chances last year.
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