GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Mid-America Christian men's soccer team raked in the NCCAA All-Central Region awards on Tuesday as Rodrigo Albuquerque was named the NCCAA Central Region Player of the Year, Danny Frid was selected as the NCCAA Central Region Coach of the Year and the Evangels as a whole had nine players tabbed to the All-Region Team.
In his third season with the team and his first season at the helm, Frid has led the Evangels to new heights during the 2021 campaign. As the team enters the NAIA National Championship Tournament, Mid-America Christian has so far posted a 19-0-1 overall record and went 8-0-1 during SAC play.
The men's soccer program made history at Mid-America Christian by becoming the first program at the institution win both the SAC regular season and tournament champion. The Evangels went on a dominant run through the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament, picking up a 3-0 quarterfinal win over Central Christian on Nov. 5, a 5-0 semifinal victory over John Brown on Nov. 8 and a 2-nil win over Southwestern Christian in the championship game on Nov. 11.
The Evangels have been the top-rated team in the NCCAA Division I from beginning to end and are currently ranked as the No. 3 team in the NAIA. MACU earned its first ever No. 1 seed in the NAIA Tournament this week.
Senior forward Rodrigo Albuquerque has continued to be an offensive force for the Evangels in his third season with the program. Ranking second in the NAIA in both goals (15) and points (38), the Receife, Brazil product has been consistently one of the best offensive players to ever wear a MACU uniform.
Albuquerque has broken nearly every career offensive record in his career with the program, holding the marks for: goals (47), assists (22), points (116), shots (289) and game-winning goals (19).
Albuquerque was one of eight MACU players selected to the NCCAA All-Central Region First Team, as he was also joined by junior forward Jack Price, senior midfielders Cesar Ramirez, Mateus Pasquantonio and Luan Cesar, senior defender Dejue Johnson, junior defender Fabian Forisch and freshman goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel.
In his first season with the Evangels, Price has made an enormous impact on the offensive end. Despite competing in just 15 games, the London, England native is the squad's third-best scorer with eight goals and has also dished out three assists for 19 points. Price made a major impact in just his second game with MACU, netting a pair of goals in a 5-1 win over Sterling on Sept. 14.
In his second season with MACU, Ramirez has marked himself at the top of the record books during his senior campaign. Ramirez currently leads the team with 12 assists, which surpassed the previous record for most assists in a season held by Albuquerque (10) during the 2020-21 campaign. By also scoring four goals, Ramirez is one of four Evangels that has notched at least 20 points this season.
Another player that is a part of the 20-point club, Cesar heads into the NAIA Opening Round as the team's second-most prolific goal scorer with nine to go with three assists for the third-most points on the team with 21. Cesar earned his first NCCAA Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week award on Monday after netting a pair of goals in MACU's wins over John Brown and Southwestern Christian in the SAC Semifinal and Championship match.
Pasquantonio, despite scoring just two goals and recording an assist this season, is what the MACU coaching staff calls one of the most skilled players on the team from his center-mid position. The Rio de Janiero, Brazil native scored his first goal with MACU in a 5-1 win over Friends before netting a goal in a 4-0 victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God on Senior Night.
In his third season with the program, Johnson continued to be the stalwart defender in MACU's center-back position. The SAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, his third conference defensive award, is spearheading a defense that is allowing just 0.95 goals per game on 7.7 shots, just 3.1 of those attempts landing on-goal.
Another third-year defender, Forisch has been a spark plug both offensively and defensively from his wing position. The Erlangen, Germany native has netted three goals this season, two of which coming in a 4-1 win at Oklahoma City on Sept. 28. Forisch also scored a short-handed goal in MACU's 1-0 win at Southwestern Christian on Oct. 5.
Rounding out the First Team honorees, Abonnel has so far put together an impressive freshman campaign for the Evangels. Needing just one more win to tie Austen Parker's single season goalkeeper record, the Aix-en-Provence, France native is holding a 0.94 goals allowed average and has made 42 saves for a .689 save percentage. Abonnel has also posted four shutouts, three of which coming in the SAC Tournament.
The lone Evangels player to earn All-SAC Second Team honors was freshman forward Ricardo Ferreira, who has so far been posting a phenomenal first season with the program. At the conclusion of the SAC Tournament, Ferreira ranks as the team's second-leading point scorer with 22 on seven goals and eight assists. After scoring five goals in his first five matches, Ferreira hit a bit of a midseason slump, but has really played well during postseason play. During the SAC Tournament, the Espinho, Portugal product was one of the team's best offensive performers with two goals and three assists in the three matches.
Mid-America Christian will open NAIA Opening Round play on Thursday as the top-seeded Evangels will kick things off against Marymount California at 1 p.m. on Thursday. The entire NAIA Opening Round will be played at the Vanguard Soccer Complex in Costa Mesa, Calif.
