GREENVILLE, S.C. – After scoring the game-winning goal for the Mid-America Christian men's soccer team against Bellevue (Neb.) on Saturday, junior forward Rodrigo Albuquerque was selected as the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division I Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week on Monday.
With the score tied at one with 53 seconds left in the match, Albuquerque's cross pass inside the right side of the goal box deflected off the hand of a Bruins defender, prompting the officials to call for a penalty kick.
In the crucial moment, the Recife, Brazil product lined up to take the PK and was able to look off the goalkeeper to dive toward the right side of the goal, firing his shot toward the open lower left post to give the Evangels the 2-1 victory.
For the 5-8 forward, it was already his third goal of the season and the 18th of his career, allowing him to move alone into fourth place on the MACU men's soccer NAIA era (2007-present) all-time career goal scoring list.
It was also the sixth game-winning goal of Albuquerque's career, allowing him to move up the MACU record books once again for third in the program's NAIA era record book, sitting only behind Dominik Tajak (9) and Raphael Bonelle (8) on the list.
It is the third time Albuquerque has been named the NCCAA Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week in his two-year career with the Evangels. Albuquerque first earned the honor on Nov. 11, 2019 when he recorded a goal and an assist in a 3-1 upset victory at SAC Champion John Brown on while scoring the golden goal in double overtime of the Evangels' SAC Quarterfinal victory over Texas Wesleyan.
Albuquerque collected his second NCCAA weekly honor after leading the team to a 6-3 win over three-time NCCAA National Champion Southwestern Christian in the NCCAA Central Region Championship, scoring a pair of goals and recording an assist for a career-high five points in the victory.
Mid-America Christian will be back in-action on Thursday as the Evangels will be hosting Arizona Christian for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff at Evangel Field.
