OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian men's soccer team didn't allow the injury bug to slow it down in its first game of the 2020-21 season against Texas A&M-Texarkana as the Evangels cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Eagles at Evangel Field on Saturday.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • MACU – 0:21 – Goal: Rodrigo Albuquerque (1)
  • MACU – 22:16 – Goal: Luan Cesar (1), Assist: Rodrigo Albuquerque
• 2^nd Half
  • MACU – 55:41 – Goal: Rodrigo Albuquerque (2), Assists: Endri Copa, Luan Cesar
  • MACU – 80:46 – Goal: Seth Lidell (1), Assist: Josue Alanis

 
MATCH SUMMARY

• Junior forward Rodrigo Albuquerque put Mid-America Christian (1-0) in-front just moments into the match. Albuquerque came up with a clean tackle on the left side near midfield and broke away to score the game-winning goal, slipping his shot just past the keeper into the right corner of the net only 21 seconds after the opening kickoff.
• In the 23^rd minute, Albuquerque added an assist to go with his first goal when he juked his defender on the right side before crossing a pass over to MACU newcomer Luan Cesar for the point-blank goal to give MACU the 2-0 lead heading into the half.
• Albuquerque notched his fourth career multi-goal match when he tapped in the first goal of the second half off a left side cross from Endri Copa to bring the Evangels lead to three with just under 35 minutes remaining.
• In his return to the MACU lineup, sophomore Seth Lidell scored his first goal since the 2018 season. On the play, Josue Alanis picked off a Texas A&M-Texarkana (0-1) pass in the box and crossed it over to Lidell on the right side as his header slipped just inside the right post, closing out the MACU scoring at 4-0 with 8:54 on the clock.

 
MATCH NOTABLES

• Mid-America Christian won its season-opener for the fourth-straight year.
• The MACU defense dominated by limiting Texas A&M-Texarkana to just five shots and one shot on-goal.
• Despite being held to just 16 shots, the Evangels were efficient in placing 10 shots on-goal for a .625 SOG percentage.
• Rodrigo Albuquerque turned in a career-best five points on an assist to go with his two goals.
• Senior goalkeeper Juan Cediel recorded his first career win and shutout with the Evangels.
• The Evangels were able to rely on their depth with some key players being out in the season-opener, including NCCAA All-Americans Austen Parker and Fabian Forisch as well as the team's top point-scorer from a year ago in Pero Mikulic.

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will return to action next weekend as the Evangels will host Bellevue (Neb.) on Saturday, Oct. 3 at Evangel Field. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m.