OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 5 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team strung together a stellar second half in its Sooner Athletic Conference opener at Oklahoma City, scoring three goals in the final 45 minutes of regulation to come away with a 4-1 victory at Brian Harvey Field on Tuesday night.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• First Half
  • MACU – 8:03 – Goal: Cesar Ramirez (1), Assist: Mateus Pasquantonio – MACU 1, OCU 0
  • OCU – 13:15 – Goal: Lucas de Freitas (6), Assist: Tommaso Belli – MACU 1, OCU 1
• Second Half
  • MACU – 53:22 – Goal: Fabian Forisch (1), Assist: Rodrigo Albuquerque – MACU 2, OCU 1
  • MACU – 53:59 – Goal: Fabian Forisch (2) – MACU 3, OCU 1
  • MACU – 73:00 – Goal: Rodrigo Albuquerque (9) – MACU 4, OCU 1

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Cesar Ramirez gave MACU the early lead on the Evangels' first opportunity on-goal. In the ninth minute, Mateus Pasquantonio put a well-delivered deep ball down the right side to Ramirez open the right corner. The senior mid hooked a shot out into the top left corner of the net to make it a 1-0 game.
  • The Stars found the equalizer just five minutes later when Tommaso Belli delivered a pass to Lucas de Freitas breaking into the right side of the 18-yard box, dribbled around a defender and rifled a shot just over the reach of Jeremi Abonnel.
  • The Evangels were able to muster three more shots on-goal over the remaining 31 minutes, but were unable to find the go-ahead goal as the two teams took a 1-1 tie into the half.
• Second Half
  • Mid-America Christian put some early pressure on Oklahoma City as Rodrigo Albuquerque was able to put a shot on-frame and the Evangels attempted six corner kicks in a seven-minute stretch to start off the half.
  • The Evangels were finally able to take the lead in the match for good in the 54^th minute when Cesar Ramirez was able to collect a cleared ball, delivered it to Albuquerque just outside the top of the 18-yard box and dribbled toward the right side before finding Fabian Forisch wide open on the right side. Forisch dribbled around one defender before placing a shot toward the top right corner, extending the Evangels' edge to 2-1.
  • Forisch notched his second goal just 37 seconds later when Luan Cesar's shot from the middle of the box deflected off an OCU defender and toward the top right corner. The Stars keeper Danilo Vilani was able to push the shot out, but the loose ball landed at the foot of Forisch, as he put a three-yarder in from the right side to bring the score to 3-1.
  • Oklahoma City had a chance at cutting into the MACU lead in the 71^st minute when the Evangels were called for a foul inside the 18-yard box, setting OCU's leading scorer Belli up for a penalty kick. However, he fired his free attempt just wide and high of goal to keep the MACU lead at two.
  • MACU ran into a similar situation on the other side of the field in the 73^rd minute when the Stars were called for a foul in the box, bringing up the Evangels' leading scorer in Albuquerque for a penalty kick. On the attempt, Albuquerque slipped it just inside the lower right post to cap the scoring at 4-1.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian dominated the possession, outshooting Oklahoma City 20-4, including a 14-4 edge in shots on-goal.
• Fabian Forisch not only scored his first goal of the season, which was also a game-winner, but also notched his first career multi-goal match.
• Rodrigo Albuquerque netted his ninth goal of the season, leading the team in the shots department with five, four of which were on-goal. Albuquerque tallied three points for the match after recording the assist on Forisch's game-winner
• Cesar Ramirez netted his first goal of the season, moving his consecutive match streak of scoring at least one point to six.
• Freshman keeper Jeremi Abonnel tied the second-most saves he's made in a match this season with three and recorded his ninth win, tying him with Tyler McIntosh for the fourth-most goalie wins in a single season in program history.
• Mid-America Christian picked up its first win over the Stars since 2018 when the Evangels came away with a 2-0 victory over OCU in the SAC Quarterfinal on Nov. 3.
• The Evangels improved to 9-0 and moved to 1-0 in Sooner Athletic Conference play while the Stars fell to 6-2 and 0-1 in the SAC.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back on the road on Saturday as the Evangels will travel to McPherson, Kan. to take on Central Christian for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff.