OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 2 MACU men's soccer team faced a tough challenge from fourth-seeded Bellevue (Neb.) in its NAIA Tournament First Round matchup at the Dill Soccer Field on Thursday night, but after
Rodrigo Albuquerque was taken down in the penalty box with 23 seconds left in the second overtime, the graduate student forward blasted the penalty kick into the left side to propel the Evangels to a 2-1 victory.
SCORING SUMMARY
- 1st Half – MACU – 42:00 – Goal: Rodrigo Albuquerque (12) – MACU 1, BU 0
- 2nd Half – BU – 75:15 – Goal: Alvaro Moros Sanz (6) – MACU 1, BU 1
- 2nd OT – MACU – 109:37 – Goal: Rodrigo Albuquerque (13) – MACU 2, BU 1
MATCH SUMMARY
- Bellevue managed to put the first shot on just three minutes into the contest when Zach Robbins attempted a rocket shot from 32-yards out that went right into the mitts of Jeremi Abonnel for the sophomore keeper's first save of the night.
- Mid-America Christian struggled to get into an offensive rhythm despite maintaining most of the possession as the Evangels' first on-target shot came at the top of the 30th minute when they put together a quick counter as Luan Cesar rifled a 20-yarder from the middle toward the right side, but the ball came in low to Romeo Paparesta for the easy save.
- The Evangels gained the lead at the start of the 42nd minute with a familiar face back in the lineup. After Uviwe Qasha chested down a pass from Mason Gonzalez from the right side, he fired a 6-yard half-volley that was stopped by Paparesta, but Rodrigo Albuquerque making his return back to the lineup from injury followed the rebound and slipped it in between the defender and the extended keeper to make it a 1-nil game going into the halftime break.
- Both teams struggled to find offensive chances in the second half as there were no shots on-goal through the first 24 minutes before Gonzalez broke open over the left side off the dribble and fired a laser shot from 24-yards toward the crossbar that was poked over by Paparesta for the save.
- Bellevue found the equalizer in the 75th minute by capitalizing off an Evangels miscue. When a centering pass got through to Kareem Williams, the center-back accidentally left a back-pass for Abonnel short as Alvaro Moros Sanz broke into the box and fired a shot inside the left post past Abonnel trying to crash at the point of attack to make it a 1-all game with 14:34 remaining.
- The Bruins had the last chance at a game-winner in regulation during the 83rd minute when Jake Cover dribbled between two defenders to create a small gap for placing a 17-yarder toward the top left, but Abonnel made a strong snare on the shot to allow the game to go to overtime.
- The only shot on-goal in the first overtime period came off a Rodrigo Ferreira free kick from 45-yards out, but his one-hopper to the right side was easily snatched by Paparesta to send the game into a second overtime at 1-1.
- Gonzalez had MACU's only live-action chance on-goal in the second overtime in the 107th minute when Rodrigo Ferreira floated a great ball to Gonzalez breaking into the left side, but he had a tight angle to shoot an 8-yarder as Paparesta was able to knock it down and fall on-top of the ball to keep a potential rebound from finding the back of the net.
- With 23 seconds, Mid-America Christian was blessed with its best opportunity of the night. After Albuquerque broke into the box from the left side and tried to cut toward the middle, he was tripped up from behind by a Bellevue defender as the Evangels were awarded with a penalty kick. With a potential postgame shootout hanging in the balance, Albuquerque, who is MACU's PK specialist delivered one of the most clutch goals of his career by stutter stepping before slipping his shot inside the left post to give MACU the 2-1 victory.
MATCH NOTES
- Despite the nail-biting result, Mid-America Christian dominated the offensive possession throughout the match as the Evangels attempted 26 shots while limiting Bellevue to just five, but the Evangels did struggle to find on-target opportunities as MACU placed only nine shots on-frame while the Bruins tallied three on-goal shots.
- After missing an entire month due to a hamstring injury, Rodrigo Albuquerque immediately made his presence felt back in the MACU lineup as he recorded his 59th and 60th career goals in his 15th career multi-goal match. Albuquerque was one of MACU's offensive leaders in the match with five total shots with three being on-frame.
- Albuquerque's success against the Bruins continued as the graduate student forward has netted seven career goals and three game-winners in four matchups against Bellevue since the 2020-21 season.
- Mason Gonzalez and Rodrigo Ferreira also put together solid offensive games for MACU as Gonzalez tallied six shots with two landing on the target and Ferreira notching five shots with two finding the frame.
- Jeremi Abonnel registered his 17th win of the season in-goal after recording a pair of saves while conceding just one goal.
- After suffering the program's first ever loss in the NAIA Tournament First Round last season in a 3-2 defeat to California Marymount, the Evangels earned their third advancement out of the NAIA's opening round. During the 2020-21 tourney, the Evangels advanced after a 4-2 shootout win in a 2-2 draw against Morningside (Iowa) on Apr. 22, 2021 and picked up a 2-1 win at Kansas Wesleyan for the program's first ever NAIA Tournament win on Nov. 17, 2018.
- The win over Bellevue marked the Evangels' fourth over the Bruins in the last three seasons. MACU defeated Bellevue 3-0 in Papillion Landing, Neb. back on Sept. 20 after getting a pair of 2-1 wins at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kan. on Sept. 18, 2021 and at the Dill Soccer Field on Oct. 3, 2020.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will face an in-state foe for the right to advance to the NAIA National Championship final site as the Evangels will take on second-seeded and nationally 17th-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan in the second round matchup on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. at the Dill Soccer Field.
