OKLAHOMA CITY – After advancing out of the NAIA Tournament First Round in thrilling fashion, the No. 2 MACU men's soccer team will face off against No. 17 Oklahoma Wesleyan for the chance to compete at the NAIA National Championship on Saturday. The Second Round match is slated to kickoff at 5 p.m. at the Dill Soccer Field.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 18-1-2
• Last Match: Won vs. (4) Bellevue (Neb.) – 2-1 – Nov. 17, 2022 – Dill Soccer Field (NAIA Tournament – First Round)
• Top Performers:
  • Rodrigo Albuquerque – GR – F
    • 13 Goals, 4 Assists, 30 Points, 56 Shots, 27 SOG, 3 GWG
  • Ricardo Ferreira – SO – F
    • 11 Goals, 3 Assists, 26 Points, 42 Shots, 23 SOG, 5 GWG
  • Jack Price – SR – M
    • 7 Goals, 7 Assists, 21 Points, 43 Shots, 22 SOG, 2 GWG
  • Mason Gonzalez – SR – D
    • 7 Goals, 2 Assists, 16 Points, 26 Shots, 15 SOG, 3 GWG
  • Jeremi Abonnel
    • 17-1-2 W-L, 0.46 GAA, 45 Saves, .833 SV%, 12 SHO, 1 CBO
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian put together one of its most exciting finishes of the season in its opening round matchup against Bellevue. After Rodrigo Albuquerque scored the go-ahead goal with three minutes left in the first half in his first action in nearly a month, Bellevue took advantage of a costly defensive mistake by the Evangels as the Bruins scored the equalizer in the 76^th minute to force the game into OT. With 23 seconds left in the second extra session, Albuquerque drew a foul inside the penalty box before putting away the game-winning PK into the lower left corner to seal the 2-1 victory.
  • By getting the win, MACU improved to 2-1-1 all-time in NAIA Tournament First Round games and advanced to the Second Round for the third time. The last time MACU advanced out of the opening round, Mason Gonzalez scored the equalizer against Morningside with 1:22 left in regulation to force a 2-2 draw. In the postgame shootout, Luan Cesar, Dejue Johnson, Albuquerque and Mandela Singh-Sharpe came up clutch while Juan Cediel made a pair of stellar saves to advance 4-2.
  • The two-goal effort for Albuquerque marked a pair of historic milestones as the winner was his 60^th career goal and his 15^th career multi-goal match in his four-year Evangels career.
  • Despite the nail-biting result, Mid-America Christian dominated the possession in the match, offensively outshooting Bellevue 26-5 and held a 9-3 edge in shot on-goal.

SCOUTING REPORT
No. 17 Oklahoma Wesleyan

• Record: 14-5-3
• Last Game: Tied with (3) No. 25 Corban (Ore.) – 1-1 (advanced 5-4 in PKs) – Nov. 17, 2022 – Dill Soccer Field (NAIA Tournament – First Round)
• Series vs. MACU (2006): Series Tied 3-3
• Last Game vs. MACU: OKWU won 2-0 – Nov. 19, 2010 – NCCAA Central Region Championship
• Players to Watch:
  • Stefan Cvetanovic – SR – F
    • 27 Goals, 6 Assists, 60 Points, 99 Shots, 62 SOG, 4 GWG
  • Matheus Ferreira – SR – M
    • 7 Goals, 18 Assists, 32 Points, 29 Shots, 20 SOG, 2 GWG
  • Zlatan Ramic – FR – M
    • 9 Goals, 9 Assists, 27 Points, 37 Shots, 25 SOG, 3 GWG
  • Uros Rosic – FR – M
    • 8 Goals, 8 Assists, 24 Points, 29 Shots, 16 SOG, 1 GWG
  • Ilija Catic – SR – GK
    • 12-3-3 W-L, 1.40 GAA, 56 Saves, .691 SV%, 5 SHO, 1 CBO
• Team Notes:
  • Second-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan and No. 3 seed Corban were in a neck-in-neck dogfight in their NAIA First Round match as Uros Rosic gave the Eagles the advantage with his go-ahead goal in the 27^th minute. However, Corban closed down following that score, outshooting OKWU 18-7 in regulation before Nate Sherwood scored the equalizer on the Warriors' final shot with 52 seconds left to send the game into OT.
  • After playing out the two OT periods to a 1-1 draw, it came down to a postgame shootout to determine the victor as OKWU nailed all five PKs while Ilija Catic made a stellar diving save on Joao Gomes attempt to seal the 5-4 advancement.
  • The Eagles are led by two of the nation's offensive leaders in senior forward Stefan Cvetanovic, who ranks second in all of the NAIA in goals scored with 27 while senior midfielder Matteus Ferreira has dished out the nation's second-most assists with 18 on the season.
  • Overall, Oklahoma Wesleyan is the NAIA's fifth-best scoring offense, averaging 3.23 goals per game and are the nation's leaders in total assists with 71 dimes.
  • Mid-America Christian and Oklahoma Wesleyan will be renewing an old NCCAA rivalry as it will be exactly 12 years to the day that two teams last played each other. The Evangels will be looking to seek some revenge as Oklahoma Wesleyan topped MACU 2-0 on Nov. 19, 2010 to claim the NCCAA Central Region Championship. However, the two teams are evenly matched in the all-time series at 3-3 while all three MACU wins have come on the Dill Soccer Field pitch.