WAXAHACHIE, Texas – After needing a golden goal in overtime to defeat Southwestern Assemblies of God to wrap up the fall portion of the season, the Mid-America Christian men's soccer team wouldn't need the same dramatics the second time around as the Evangels rolled to a 9-0 victory over the Lions in their Sooner Athletic Conference opener on Tuesday afternoon.
 

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • MACU – 16:15 – Goal: Rodrigo Albuquerque (10) – MACU 1, SAGU 0
  • MACU – 27:12 – Goal: Rodrigo Albuquerque (11), Assist: Endri Copa – MACU 2, SAGU 0
  • MACU – 31:56 – Goal: Thiago Viana (1), Assist: Cesar Ramirez – MACU 3, SAGU 0
  • MACU – 33:50 – Goal: Luan Cesar (2), Assist: Rodrigo Albuquerque – MACU 4, SAGU 0
• 2^nd Half
  • MACU – 48:44 – Goal: SAGU Own Goal – MACU 5, SAGU 0
  • MACU – 50:39 – Goal: Mason Gonzalez (1) – MACU 6, SAGU 0
  • MACU – 52:15 – Goal: Mason Gonzalez (2), Assist: Edward Alderson – MACU 7, SAGU 0
  • MACU – 55:01 – Goal: Mason Gonzalez (3) – MACU 8, SAGU 0
  • MACU – 61:58 – Goal: Adrian Heinle (1) – MACU 9, SAGU 0

 

MATCH SUMMARY

• 1^st Half
  • Mid-America Christian (7-1, 1-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) was able to strike early in the 17^th minute when Rodrigo Albuquerque sent a deep ball to Evangels newcomer Adrian Heinle, who beat the defense and was tripped up in the 18-yard box to set up a penalty kick. On the attempt, Albuquerque blasted his go-ahead shot inside the right post to secure a 1-nil advantage.
  • After scoring a goal with his foot, Albuquerque netted the next with his head when Endri Copa launched a beautiful ball from the left sideline to the right post, as the forward from Recife, Brazil slipped his header into the right side to expand the lead two.
  • Five minutes later, another MACU newcomer made his impact felt as Thiago Viana received a pass from the top of the box from Cesar Ramirez, as he slipped past the keeper on the left side and fired his five-yard blast into the middle of the net to stretch the lead to 3-0.
  • With just over 11 minutes remaining in the half, Luan Cesar netted his second goal of the season on a breakaway after Albuquerque found him breaking down the middle of the box. Cesar chipped his right-footed seven-yard shot just inside the left post to send the Evangels into the half with a four-goal advantage.
• 2^nd Half
  • Just 3:34 into the second half, the Evangels pressure offensively forced Southwestern Assemblies of God (1-4-1, 0-1 SAC) into committing a crucial miscue as Mason Gonzalez's cross from the right side deflected off the hands of the diving keeper and ricochet off a collapsing defender into the back of the SAGU net, stretching it to a 5-nil Evangels edge.
  • While Gonzalez didn't get credit on the last goal, he would find the back of the net moments later for his first goal with MACU when his penalty kick slid just inside the left post to make it a 6-0 game in the 51^st minute.
  • Less than two minutes later, Gonzalez struck again when Edward Alderson launched a well-placed deep ball from near midfield to the left side of the box. Gonzalez ran it down and dribbled around the SAGU keeper, tapping it into the open net to bring the score to 7-0.
  • Some stellar defense led to a quick Evangels strike as Hector Valles was able to intercept a pass on the left side and send it to Albuquerque breaking down the left side. SAGU managed to poke the ball away momentarily, but Gonzalez was in the right place at the right time as he launched his hat trick score into the left side of the goal from 18-yards out, increasing the MACU lead to eight.
  • With just over 28 minutes left, Heinle finished off the MACU scoring when Gonzalez tracked down a loose ball off a missed shot on the right side of the box and found the freshman forward breaking open in the middle. Heinle punched a misdirection kick into the right side of the net that the goalie vacated to help wrap up the 9-0 victory.

 

MATCH NOTES

• The Evangels offensive efficiency was fantastic in the match, as MACU took 20 shots, while finding the frame 13 times with nine ending up into the back of the Lions' net. Meanwhile, the defense held SAGU to only one shot for the entire 90 minutes of regulation.
• Junior forward Mason Gonzalez made his impact felt in his first match with the Evangels, finishing with seven points off three goals and an assist. It was the 11^th hat trick for MACU since the program joined the NAIA in 2007 and the seven-point effort matched Dominik Tajak for the fourth-most in a single match in the same time frame.
• Rodrigo Albuquerque also tied a record held by Tajak in the match, as his sixth game-winning goal of the season moved him to the top of the record book. Despite being just eight games into the season, Albuquerque has already moved into eighth on MACU's single season scoring list with 11 thus far. By also notching an assist, he came away with five points, the fourth time Albuquerque has accomplished that feat this season.
• Despite being shorthanded due to injuries, the Evangels still played 18 players in the match with six different players netting goals.
• Making his first start in a MACU uniform, sophomore goalkeeper Sven van den Oever recorded a shutout win even though he did not need to make any saves due to the stellar defense the Evangels played in the match.
• MACU improved to 11-4 against SAGU since joining the Sooner Athletic Conference, which includes winning five of the last six matches. It was a far different outcome from their non-conference meeting back on Nov. 13 as the Evangels needed a golden goal from Albuquerque in the 94^th minute to come away with the victory.

 

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will wrap up its road swing on Saturday, Feb. 27 when the Evangels travel to Fort Worth, Texas to take on Texas Wesleyan for a 7 p.m. kickoff.