OKLAHOMA CITY – In a rematch of the 2020-21 NAIA Opening Round, the No. 5 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team defensively clamped down on 22^nd-ranked Morningside as the Evangels ended their non-conference slate with a 3-1 victory over the Mustangs at the Mike & Helen Dill Soccer Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• First Half
  • MACU – 36:46 – Goal: Adrian Heinle (2), Assist: Rodrigo Albuquerque, Jack Price – MACU 1, MSIDE 0
• Second Half
  • MACU – 67:41 – Goal: Jack Price (3), Assist: Dejue Johnson – MACU 2, MSIDE 0
  • MSIDE – 67:57 – Goal: Gero Zarbo (2), Assist: Robin Thomala – MACU 2, MSIDE 1
  • MACU – 82:49 – Goal: Luan Cesar (4), Assist: Cesar Ramirez – MACU 3, MSIDE 1

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian dominated the possession in the first half, but had some early opportunities erased when Cesar Ramirez appeared to have a goal wiped out in the sixth-minute when he received a left-side cross from Eugenio Garcia-Guerra and put an open-shot into the right side of the net, but the Evangels were flagged for off-side. Ramirez had a second goal wiped out just 11 minutes later in the 17^th minute due to an foul call when Luan Cesar tried to put a header back toward Ramirez attacking the goal.
  • Just moments later, Rodrigo Albuquerque had another great chance at a go-ahead goal, but his 22-yard blast from the left side bounced off the post.
  • The Evangels were able to find the go-ahead goal in the 37^th minute when Jack Price on the left side found Albuquerque breaking into the left side of the box. As he came into the six-yard goal box, Albuquerque dished it to Adrian Heinle running stride-for-stride to his right, punching it into the open right side of the goal to hand MACU a 1-0 edge heading into the break.
• Second Half
  • In the 68^th minute, Price was able to put through the game-winning goal when Albuquerque cleared it out from deep within Mustangs territory to Dejue Johnson waiting in the center ring at midfield. Johnson heaved a beautiful floater into the right side of the box for Price, who easily slipped the shot 10-yard shot into the left side of the net to extend the MACU advantage to 2-nil.
  • On the ensuing kickoff, the Evangels were caught off-guard when Robin Thomala fielded a deep ball just after the kickoff, cut back and then found Gero Zarbo cutting into the box and firing it into the net for a goal just 16 seconds after MACU's second goal of the match.
  • With just over seven minutes remaining, the Evangels got some insurance when a right-side corner kick off the foot of Cesar Ramirez bounded through the six-yard box to the head of Luan Cesar, put in the open point-blank header to extend the edge to 3-1.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian was in control from start to finish, outshooting Morningside by a 21-5 margin and a 9-3 edge in shots on-goal.
• Morningside, who came into the match averaging 3.5 goals per game were held to their lowest scoring and second-lowest shots output of the season.
• Jack Price's third goal of the year was also his first game-winner as a member of the Evangels. By adding an assist on Adrian Heinle's first half score, Price finished with three points.
• Cesar Ramirez notched his seventh assist of the season on Luan Cesar's fourth goal of the year, marking him just outside the top five in the NAIA in the total assists category.
• By notching an assist on Heinle's opening score, Rodrigo Albuquerque extended his team-leading points total to 20 on the year.
• With the victory, the Evangels already have four wins against teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25, previously getting wins against No. 16 Georgia Gwinnett, No. 22 Lyon (Ark.) and No. 10 Bethel (Tenn.).

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will start off Sooner Athletic Conference play against their crosstown rivals in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, Sept. 28. The Evangels will kick off the SAC competition at 7 p.m. at Brian Harvey Field.