OKLAHOMA CITY – For the second straight year, the No. 3 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team will play for the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament title. The Evangels put together a scoring outburst in the second half to defeat John Brown 5-0 at the Mike & Helen Dill Soccer Field on Monday night.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• MACU – 39:41 – Goal: Rodrigo Albuquerque (15), Assists: Ricardo Ferreira, Rodrigo Ferreira – MACU 1, JBU 0
• MACU – 50:24 – Goal: Luan Cesar (8), Assists: Ricardo Ferreira, Endri Copa – MACU 2, JBU 0
• MACU – 63:43 – Goal: Adrian Heinle (4), Assist: Niccolo Ticozzelli – MACU 3, JBU 0
• MACU – 83:01 – Goal: Ricardo Ferreira (7), Assists: Cesar Ramirez, Bruno Sperandio – MACU 4, JBU 0
• MACU – 87:30 – Goal: Simon Wieschemann – MACU 5, JBU 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian struggled with possession through the first 25 minutes of the match as John Brown attempted the first three shots before Cesar Ramirez finally attempted MACU's first attempt that sailed wide right on free kick in the 27^th minute.
  • The Evangels finally broke through in the 40^th minute when Rodrigo Ferreira intercepted a pass near midfield and found his brother Ricardo Ferreira breaking down the left side. Ricardo's cross toward the right post was deflected by the keeper, but Rodrigo Albuquerque was able to re-adjust and head in the game-winner from two yards out inside the right post to make it a 1-nil MACU advantage at the half.
• Second Half
  • The Evangels first score in the second half was a somewhat creative one. In the 51^st minute, Rodrigo Albuquerque launched a cross from the right side to Endri Copa near the left post. Copa headed the cross back toward the right side, finding the head Ricardo Ferreira, who placed it to the foot of Luan Cesar behind him. From eight-yards out, Cesar re-directed a shot toward the left post to bring the score to 2-0.
  • MACU added to it in the 64^th minute when Niccolo Ticozzelli launched a deep ball from the Evangels box to the Golden Eagles defensive third. A misplay between the JBU keeper and JBU defender resulted in Adrian Heinle getting past the keeper as he claimed possession and then set for an open 18-yard shot from the middle to right post to extend the Evangels' edge to 3-nil.
  • After JBU was called for a foul near midfield with about seven minutes left, a quickly taken free kick by Salvador Garcia found Bruno Sperandio open on the left side. He flicked a pass onto Ramirez sprinting down the left side before crossing it into the middle of the box for Ricardo Ferreira as he launched a 10-yard shot back toward the left post to bring the score to 4-nil.
  • With 2:30 remaining, the Evangels added their final score after JBU was called for a foul in the box, setting up MACU for the free kick. Simon Wieschemann, the experience senior defender lined up to take it and was able to juke the keeper to diving left before rifling a shot into the right side of the net to cap the scoring at 5-0.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian outshot John Brown by a 16-8 margin, but absolutely dominated in limiting the Golden Eagles to on-target opportunities as MACU placed 10 shots on-target while JBU could only muster one the entire match.
• Rodrigo Albuquerque's game-winner was his fifth of the season and his 15^th goal of the 2021 campaign. The senior from Recife, Brazil has now scored a goal in five consecutive matches.
• Ricardo Ferreira had one of his best recording a career-high two assists and added a goal to match his career-high point total of four. The freshman forward's last four-point game came in a 5-1 win over No. 22 Lyon (Ark.) on Sept. 11.
• Luan Cesar moved into second on the team with his eighth goal of the season while Adrian Heinle netted his fourth and Simon Wieschemann scored his first of the season.
• The Evangels overall had seven assists on their four goals scored in the match. Outside of Ricardo Ferreira's two dimes, Cesar Ramirez, Bruno Sperandio, Rodrigo Ferreira, Niccolo Ticozzelli and Endri Copa each finished with one.
• Ramirez's assist moved him in to first outright in the MACU single season record book, surpassing Albuquerque's mark set during the 2020-21 season.
• Jeremi Abonnel recorded a save for his second consecutive shutout. The Evangels as a team have pitched three consecutive shutouts since a 1-1 draw with Oklahoma Panhandle State on Oct. 26.
• Mid-America Christian will be advancing to its second straight Sooner Athletic Conference Championship match. During the 2020-21 tourney, the Evangels picked up a 6-0 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State in the quarterfinal round on Apr. 2 before topping Science & Arts 3-1 in the semis on Apr. 6.

UP NEXT

• The SAC Championship match will feature a pair of crosstown rivals as Mid-America Christian will host seventh-seeded Southwestern Christian for a 7 p.m. kickoff at the Mike & Helen Dill Soccer Field on Thursday, Nov. 11.