OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 2 MACU men's soccer team earned its second consecutive Sooner Athletic Conference regular season championship on Tuesday night at the Dill Soccer Field as
Mason Gonzalez scored a pair of goals to lead the Evangels to a 3-2 victory over Southwestern Christian.
SCORING SUMMARY
MATCH SUMMARY
- Neither team was able to gain any momentum in the early going, but Mid-America Christian managed to push across the go-ahead score on its first attempt on-goal in the 16th minute. After a deep ball from Diego Real found Ricardo Ferreira open on the left side. Ferreira relayed a pass to Jack Price, who quickly returned it to Ferreira on the outer edge of the penalty box. At the far left corner of the 18-yard box, Ferreira took one dribble to his right before rifling a low line-drive toward the right post, making it a 1-0 game.
- Southwestern Christian quickly found an equalizer just a minute-and-a-half later. After Ricardo Ferreira had the ball tackled away from him by Ezra Moser, he delivered a pass to Kodai Tanaka near the top of the 18-yard box. Dribbling to his right, Tanaka was able to juke the MACU defender off him before launching a 27-yarder from the middle under the crossbar, just barely out of the reach of a fully-extended Jeremi Abonnel on the leap, making it a 1-1 game.
- While neither team mustered an opportunity over the next four minutes, the Evangels were finally able to capitalize off a corner kick in the 22nd minute. On a right side corner kick, Jack Price screeched a low-liner toward the right post, finding the foot of Mason Gonzalez from three-yards out as he slipped his shot just inside the right post to make it a 2-1 MACU advantage.
- SCU had a solid look for an equalizer in the 26th minute, but Abonnel made his first strong save of the match. With a free kick from the left side off a MACU yellow card, Liam Brag's cross into the box found the head of Jason Hogan from eight-yards out. However, Abonnel made a great read as he leapt toward the left post and stabbed the ball away before being cleared away by the MACU defense.
- Mid-America Christian had an opportunity to go up two goals in the 31st minute when Gonzalez picked off an SCU header and dribbled through two defenders at the midfield before delivering a well-placed ball for Ricardo Ferreira breaking wide open into the right side of the box. From 12-yards out, Ferreira tried to slip his shot toward the left post, but SCU goalkeeper Salvatore Della Valle made a phenomenal full-extension save to keep the score to 2-1.
- MACU's last chance on-goal came with just under two minutes left in the first half when Ridwane Boukraa floated a well-placed cross from the left of the box toward Georg Westerlund near the right post, but his seven-yard header was right at Della Valle for an easy save as the Evangels went into the half with its one-goal advantage.
- The Eagles were the aggressors to open the second half. Just under three minutes in, SCU's Robin Bonilla blasted an open 30-yarder toward the top right, but Abonnel was able to corral the rocket shot after it briefly popped out of his hands momentarily.
- In the 52nd minute, SCU got another on-target chance from deep from Kyle Augustine's free kick from 40-yards out, but Abonnel was able to leap up and push the floating shot out before it was eventually cleared on a blocked follow-up attempt from Brag.
- SCU pushed across the equalizer just a minute later on some mind-blowing ball-handling from Shamari Davis. After Davis was able to dispossess the Evangels just outside the 18-yard box, he cut through three different MACU defenders before firing in a 12-yarder into the middle that squeezed in-between Ricardo Sepulveda and a diving Abonnel to make it a 2-2 score.
- Both defenses were able to limit the on-target opportunities over the next 27 minutes as each team was only able to muster a shot on-goal apiece. In the 59th minute, Diego Real broke into the left side of the box and before the ball rolled out the end line, he delivered a pass to Uviwe Qasha streaking toward the left-post. From six-yards out, his attempt was initially saved by Della Valle, but Price had a chance at a follow-up from the right side, but his open attempt from 12-yards sailed just high.
- SCU's lone attempt during this stretch was a bit less threatening as Bonilla received a deep cross from the right side to the left, but his lofted 30-yard shot was easily saved by Abonnel to keep it tied.
- With just under 10 minutes left, Mid-America Christian found its game-winner. Off a short corner from the left side, Luan Cesar found Real wide open on the left edge of the penalty box. Real aired a pass into the middle of the six-yard box, finding the head of Gonzalez, who bashed it underneath the middle of the crossbar to secure the 3-2 lead.
- MACU did have one more chance to add some insurance with just over three minutes left on another short corner, but Real's 14-yard rocket shot from the left side toward the left post was stunningly saved by Della Valle.
- The Eagles were unable to force another on-goal chance over the final 10 minutes as the Evangels secured the victory.
MATCH SUMMARY
- While Mid-America Christian held a commanding 21-to-8 shot advantage, the Evangels were only able to place eight shots on-target while SCU efficiently placed six of its attempts on-goal.
- With two goals in the contest, Mason Gonzalez turned in his first multi-goal performance since his first match in an Evangels uniform, when he turned in a hat trick in a 9-0 victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God on Feb. 23, 2021. Gonzalez became the fourth MACU player to net five or more goals on the season, moving into a tie for third on the team with Jack Price.
- Ricardo Ferreira continued to build on his second-best goals total of the season with his ninth in the 16th minute. Ferreira is currently tied for sixth in the SAC in goal-scoring with Oklahoma City's Lucas de Freitas. Ferreira led the offensive efforts with four shots, putting two on-goal while Gonzalez was the only other MACU player to place two shots on-target.
- Price recorded his third multi-assist match of the season with a pair of dimes, moving to second on the team with six assists, placing him in a tie for fourth in the conference. The pair of points boosted the London, England native's season total to 16.
- With his eighth assist of the season, Diego Real ranks second in the SAC in the distribution category.
- Luan Cesar recorded his second assist of the season on Gonzalez's 80th minute game-winner.
- For the second straight year, Mid-America Christian locked up the SAC regular season title on its home turf. Last season, the Evangels secured the conference crown on Oct. 31, 2021 with a 4-0 victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God.
- The victory improved MACU's record to 13-1-2 overall and 6-0-2 in Sooner Athletic Conference play while the Evangels handed the Eagles their first SAC loss of the season, dropping SCU to 4-1-3 in league play and 6-3-4 overall.
- The win for the Evangels is also their third straight against Southwestern Christian in the last 13 months. MACU's last win against SCU came in the SAC Championship game on Nov. 11, 2022 in a 2-0 victory while nabbing the regular season win in Bethany, Okla. on Oct. 5, 2021.
- In its home finale, MACU remained unbeaten at the Dill Soccer Field, wrapping up its regular season home turf mark at 8-0-1.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will wrap-up the regular season on the road as the Evangels will travel to Goodwell, Okla. to take on Oklahoma Panhandle State on Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Anchor D Field.
