OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off its first ever conference regular season championship, the No. 3 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team was represented well in the All-Sooner Athletic Conference awards that were announced on Tuesday.
Senior forward Rodrigo Albuquerque was named the SAC Player of the Year, becoming the first Evangels student-athlete in program history to garner the league's most prestigious honor. Heading into the SAC Tournament Championship, Albuquerque leads all players in the league with 15 goals and 38 points while also ranking fourth in the SAC in assists with eight.
The Recife, Brazil product holds all of MACU's career offensive records, including: goals (47), assists (22), points (116), shots (285) and game-winning goals (19).
Senior defender Dejue Johnson continued to be recognized as one of the best defenders in the league as the Linstead, Jamaica product was selected as the SAC Co-Defensive Player of the third time in his illustrious MACU career.
Johnson has spearheaded a MACU defense that is allowing just an average of 1.0 goals on 7.7 shots and 3.1 shots on-goal per game.
In his first season with the Evangels, junior forward Jack Price made a large imprint on the team in becoming the SAC Newcomer of the Year. The forward from London, England ranks second on the squad with eight goals to go with three assists for 19 points.
Another newcomer that made a huge impact on the field is freshman keeper Jeremi Abonnel. In his first season with MACU, Abonnel was selected as the SAC Goalkeeper of the Year. During the 2021 campaign, Abonnel has amassed an 18-0-1 record, boasting a 0.99 goals allowed average and has made 40 saves on a .678 save percentage.
In his first season at the helm, head coach Danny Frid garnered the SAC Coach of the Year. The Evangels finished the regular season with an unblemished 16-0-1 record and finished with a league mark of 8-0-1, the program's best ever finish in SAC play. With two more wins in the SAC tourney, the Evangels are currently one of only two teams in the NAIA with 18 wins.
Under Frid's guidance, the Evangels have climbed to their highest national rank ever, as MACU currently sits as the No. 3 team in the NAIA and have picked up several high profile wins, including at No. 16 Georgia Gwinnett and No. 10 Bellevue (Neb.).
Overall, Mid-America Christian placed seven players on the all-conference list, five of which on the First Team. MACU's All-SAC First Team honorees were Rodrigo Albuquerque, senior midfielder Mateus Pasquantonio, Dejue Johnson, junior defender Fabian Forisch and Jeremi Abonnel.
Featured on the Second Team was senior midfielder Cesar Ramirez, who broke MACU's single season assists record with his SAC-leading 11th assist in the Evangels' 5-0 victory over John Brown in the SAC Semifinal on Nov. 8. Senior forward Luan Cesar was also selected to the Second Team as he currently ranks second on the squad in goals scored (8) and third in total points (19).
