OKLAHOMA CITY – The top-seeded and nationally No. 2 MACU men's soccer team took care of business in its Sooner Athletic Conference Quarterfinal matchup against eighth-seeded Wayland Baptist as the Evangels scored three second-half goals in a 4-1 victory at the Dill Soccer Field on Saturday night.
SCORING SUMMARY
- 1st Half – MACU – 11:20 – Goal: Luan Cesar (4) – MACU 1, WBU 0
- 2nd Half – MACU – 46:44 – Goal: Ricardo Ferreira (10), Assist: Jack Price – MACU 2, WBU 0
- 2nd Half – MACU – 63:01 – Goal: Dante Luz (2), Assist: Georg Westerlund – MACU 3, WBU 0
- 2nd Half – MACU – 77:37 – Goal: Georg Westerlund (5) – MACU 4, WBU 0
- 2nd Half – WBU – 84:47 – Goal: Harry Garbutt (1) – MACU 4, WBU 1
MATCH SUMMARY
- Wayland Baptist was the early aggressors in the first half as the Pioneers managed to put a shot on-frame 49 seconds in when a loose ball ended up to the foot of Daniel Ruiz on the left side of the box, but Jeremi Abonnel positioned himself well to stop the 10-yarder toward the right post to make the save and keep WBU off the board.
- Mid-America Christian was able to capture the early lead off a huge Wayland Baptist miscue. In the 12th minute, Ricardo Sepulveda launched a cross from the right side trying to find Ricardo Ferreira breaking in toward the middle of the box. With the ball in the air, WBU's Danijel Bozic knocked down Ferreira as the official issued the yellow card and a penalty kick was awarded to MACU. On the PK, Luan Cesar slipped the shot inside the left post to give the Evangels the 1-0 advantage.
- Both teams struggled to get much offense going over the remainder of the half as the Pioneers were the only team to muster a pair of on-goal shots, but both attempts were from long distance as Abonnel made two easy stops.
- The Evangels made one last run at goal before time expired as Bruno Sperandio relayed a pass to SAC Offensive Player of the Week Mason Gonzalez, but WBU keeper Adriano Coppolecchia was able to slide out and make the save at the point of attack from 12-yards from goal to keep it to a 1-0 game going into half.
- After being stymied offensively in the first half, MACU was able to immediately flip the script in the second half. In the 47th minute, Jack Price delivered a pin-point pass on the right side corner toward Ricardo Ferreira on the left post. The sophomore forward bashed a bouncing header inside the post to swell the lead to 2-nil.
- In the top of the 64th minute, the Evangels added to their advantage when Georg Westerlund dribbled through two defenders on the right side of the 18-yard box before Dante Luz came bolting in to fire a laser inside the right post from 16-yards, making it a 3-0 game.
- In the 78th minute, Westerlund was finally able to get into the score column. After a yellow card was issued to WBU's Luis Toro just outside the center of the penalty box, Price slipped a 20-yard free kick past the Pioneers wall and toward the left post. Coppolecchia initially made the diving save, but Westerlund tracked down the loose ball on the left side and immediately fired it into the open net from seven yards out to swell the score to 4-nil.
- With just over five minutes left, Wayland Baptist was finally able to break into the scoring column against some of MACU's reserves. On the scoring play, Leonardo Marini was able to flick a pass from the right base line for an aerial to Harry Garbutt. The five-yard header initially bounced off the crossbar, but Garbutt was able to follow his shot to immediately knock it back in before the MACU defense could collapse on the play to wrap-up the 4-1 final score.
MATCH NOTES
- Mid-America Christian was able to hold a slight 16-13 shot advantage as the Pioneers were able to take the second-most attempts of any opponent the Evangels had faced, but MACU was able to limit Wayland Baptist to only four shots on-goal while the Evangels effectively placed 11 on-frame.
- Georg Westerlund led the MACU offensive attack with three points off a goal and an assist as well as attempted a match-high four shots, all of which were on-target. Westerlund became the fifth Evangel on the season to score five or more goals during the year.
- Ricardo Ferreira's 47th minute winner was not only his career-best 10th goal of the season, but also moved alone into first for the team-lead with four game-winners in the 2022 campaign.
- The assist from Price on Ferreira's second-half score marked his seventh of the year and currently sits just outside the top 10 of the program's single-season record book for the most dimes in a year.
- With his 12th minute penalty kick, Luan Cesar joined some elite company in the MACU record books. With his 18th career score at MACU, Cesar joined Pero Mikulic in the top five of the program's career goal-scoring list.
- The goal scored by Dante Luz marked his second of the 2022 campaign and the seventh of his MACU career.
- Mid-America Christian's four-goal outburst was their first game with four or more goals since coming away with a 6-0 victory at Texas Wesleyan back on Oct. 8.
- With the win, Mid-America Christian improved to 15-1-2 on the season while the Pioneers fell to 6-9-2. The Evangels have now won 15 or more games in each of the last four years.
- Mid-America Christian also improved to 10-8 all-time against Wayland Baptist and have won seven straight matches since the 2018 campaign.
- With the victory, the Evangels have now won or advanced in penalty kicks in six straight SAC Quarterfinal matchups.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will now prepare to face No. 4 seed John Brown (Ark.) in the SAC Semifinal at the Dill Soccer Field on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
