SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – The No. 3 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team overcame a two-goal deficit in the first half before ending it in the team's first double overtime match of the season as Bruno Sperandio netted the golden goal in the 102^nd minute to lead the Evangels to a 3-2 victory over John Brown at Alumni Field on Saturday night.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• First Half
  • JBU – 13:13 – Goal: Jacob Zamarron (14), Assist: Eli Jackson, Oscar Carballo – JBU 1, MACU 0
  • JBU – 26:38 – Goal: MACU Own Goal – JBU 2, MACU 0
  • MACU – 29:40 – Goal: Rodrigo Albuquerque (10) – JBU 2, MACU 1
• Second Half
  • MACU – 59:45 – Goal: Jack Price (6), Assist: Rodrigo Ferreira – MACU 2, JBU 2
• Overtime
  • MACU – 101:04 – Goal: Bruno Sperandio (3) – MACU 3, JBU 2

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • MACU goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel was able to make a strong save on JBU's first attempt on-goal in the sixth minute, but the Golden Eagles managed to get the lead eight minutes later when Eli Jackson on a breakaway delivered a cross from the right side toward the left post for Jacob Zamarron, as he dribbled around Jeremi Abonnel at the point of attack and fired an eight-yard shot into the right side of the goal to make it a 1-0 contest.
  • Zamarron had an excellence change at netting his second goal of the match on a 23-yard shot from the left side in the 23^rd minute, but Abonnel made one of the best saves of his early career with a diving deflection on the shot toward the left post, forcing it out the right baseline for a corner kick.
  • The Evangels made a crucial mistake after a goal kick that went short as the return pass toward the keeper came in too fast and off-target as it rolled into the MACU right side of the net for an own goal, stretching the JBU advantage to 2-0 in the 27^th minute.
  • Mid-America Christian was able to cut into the deficit in the 30^th minute when Rodrigo Albuquerque was tripped up trying to make a cut in the left side of the 18-yard box, setting up a penalty kick attempt. On Albuquerque's try, JBU keeper Kyle Hix nearly made a diving save toward the left post as it glanced off his hand and deflected in off the inside of the post to bring to a 2-1 game at the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • The Evangels found the equalizer in the 60^th minute when Rodrigo Ferreira delivered a beautifully placed ball from midfield to Jack Price breaking inside the 18-yard box, as Hicks came out to try to stop him at the point of attack, Price slipped a shot past him toward the right post.
  • JBU's last chance on-goal in regulation came with just over 15 minutes left when Zamarron broke open on the left side off a free kick, catching the Evangels by surprise, but Abonnel made another strong diving save to keep the match tied.
• Overtime
  • In the first overtime period, Rodrigo Ferreira was the only player that found an opportunity on-goal from 24-yards out from the left side in the 97^th minute, but Hix made a diving stop toward the left post to keep the two teams equal heading into a second overtime.
  • Mid-America Christian took advantage of its first great opportunity in the second overtime period when Albuquerque was cleanly able to handle a throw-in from Dante Luz on the right side dishing a pass to Adrian Heinle through a pair of defenders. Heinle quickly delivered it to the top of the box for Bruno Sperandio, who dribbled through two defenders while making an excellent cut toward the right side of the box and rifled a wide-open 14-yard shot into the top right corner of the goal seal the victory for the Evangels.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian and John Brown finished with an equal 16 shots while JBU held a slight 9-8 edge in shots on-goal.
• Bruno Sperandio's golden goal was the second golden goal of the season for the Evangels, with the last coming from Mason Gonzalez in a 2-1 overtime victory over Tennessee Wesleyan back on Sept. 4. For Sperandio, it was second-game winning goal in his career and his fourth career goal with the Evangels.
• By netting his 10^th goal of the season, Rodrigo Albuquerque became the first Evangels player in the NAIA era to score 10 or more goals in three consecutive seasons and just the second MACU player to record three 10-goal seasons after Raphael Bonnelle accomplished the feat in 2012, 2013 and 2015.
• Jack Price's equalizer in the second half was his sixth goal of the season, moving him alone into third on the team in goals scored.
• Jeremi Abonnel made a career-high seven saves and notched his second-highest save percentage of the season at .778.
• With the victory, Mid-America Christian improved to 15-0 overall and tied the program's single season SAC wins total with their seventh victory in league play. The 15^th win for the Evangels also ties the second-highest single season wins mark with last season's 15-4-3 run to the NAIA National Championships. John Brown fell to 7-9 overall and 4-3 against SAC competition.
• The win also put the Evangels at 21 conference points, moving them alone into first place in the SAC standings by three-points over Oklahoma Panhandle State in second with 18 points on a 6-1 league mark.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will return home on Tuesday night as the Evangels will host Oklahoma Panhandle State for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at the Mike & Helen Dill Soccer Field.
• If the Evangels can get a win or force a tie on Tuesday night, they would earn their first ever SAC regular season championship.