OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off winning the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles, the No. 9 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team will be looking to continue its championship pursuits as the Evangels have announced their 2022 fall schedule.
MACU will be playing an 18-match regular season schedule and will also be competing against one of its toughest non-conference slates in program history as the Evangels will face four teams that finished ranked in the top 12 of the NAIA Top 25 poll.
"We are really excited about our schedule this year," said MACU head coach Danny Frid. "Again, we are playing some of the best programs in the NAIA. Our goal is to keep progressing as a program and playing top opponents is a vital part of that."
The Evangels will officially kick off the regular season at home against Bethel (Kan.) on Aug. 20 before facing its first of many NAIA powerhouse programs in McPherson (Kan.) at the Dill Soccer Field on Aug. 26.
MACU will then open a string of three straight road matches against Friends (Kan.) on Aug. 30 before taking on a pair of NAIA top 10 foes in a Labor Day Classic in Olathe, Kan. The Evangels will open the meet on Sept. 3 against the host No. 8 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) prior to taking on No. 6 Missouri Valley on Sept. 5.
The Evangels will then return home for a pair of tough matches as MACU will face Baker (Kan.) on Sept. 10 before taking on nationally fourth-ranked Columbia (Mo.) on Sept. 12.
Mid-America Christian will then hit the road for its fourth NAIA Top 25 matchup in a five-game stretch as the Evangels will challenge No. 12 Bellevue at 2 p.m. on Sept. 20.
The Evangels will open Sooner Athletic Conference play at home on Sept. 27 against Wayland Baptist. MACU hosts SAC home matches in the 2022 schedules, which includes: Central Christian (Oct. 1), John Brown (Oct. 18), Oklahoma City (Oct. 22) and Southwestern Christian (Oct. 25) as well as one mid-season non-conference matchup against Bethesda (Calif.) (Oct. 11).
The four SAC road matchups on MACU's slate includes: Southwestern Assemblies of God (Oct. 4), Texas Wesleyan (Oct. 8) and Science & Arts (Oct. 15) before wrapping up the regular season at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Oct. 29.
The Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament is slated between Nov. 5-11 as the Evangels will be seeking their third straight SAC tourney title as well as qualify for their third consecutive NAIA National Championship Tournament.
Last season, Mid-America Christian put together its winningest season in program history, finishing 2021 with a 19-1-1 overall record, going undefeated in the regular season before suffering a heartbreaking loss against California Marymount in the NAIA Opening Round.
The Evangels won their first SAC regular season title after going 8-0-1 in league play and won their third SAC Tournament Championship in the last four years after defeating Southwestern Christian 2-0 at the Dill Soccer Field on Nov. 18.
Mid-America Christian has been steadily building a powerhouse program in the NAIA, finishing with 13 wins in each of the last five season and amassing 15 or more wins in each of the last three years.
