OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 8 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team is set to face its first nationally-recognized opponent of the 2022 season as the Evangels host McPherson (Kan.), a team receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll at the Dill Soccer Field on Friday night. Kickoff for the match is slated for 7:30 p.m.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 1-0
• Last Match: Won vs. Bethel (Kan.) – 3-0 – Aug. 20, 2022 – Dill Soccer Field
• Stat Leaders:
  • Rodrigo Albuquerque – GR – F
    • 2 Goals, 4 Points, 4 Shots, 3 SOG
  • Ricardo Ferreira – SO – F
    • 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 3 Points, 2 Shots, 1 SOG, 1 GWG
  • Uviwe Qasha – R-SO – M
    • 1 Assist, 1 Point
  • Jeremi Abonnel – SO – GK
    • 1-0 W-L, 0.00 GAA, 1 SHO
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian won its sixth straight season-opener with a dominant 3-0 victory over Bethel (Kan.) at the Dill Soccer Field on Aug. 20.
  • The Evangels dominated the Threshers in their opener, outshooting BC by a 22-3 margin, including a 12-0 edge in shots on-goal.
  • Graduate student forward Rodrigo Albuquerque recorded his 13^th career multi-goal game, netting a pair of goals on four shots, three of which landing on-goal.
  • Sophomore forward Ricardo Ferreira also turned in a stellar game offensively, tallying three points on the game-winning goal in the ninth minute while also tallying an assist on MACU's third goal scored in the final minute.
  • Despite not needing to make a save in the last outing, sophomore goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel recorded his fifth career shutout, matching Liam Ward for the fifth-most career shutouts in the program's NAIA Era record book.

SCOUTING REPORT
(RV) McPherson (Kan.)

• 2021 Record: 12-8
• Last Match: Lost vs. MidAmerica Nazarene – 2-0 – Nov. 18, 2021 – Bellevue, Neb. (NAIA Opening Round)
• Series vs. MACU: MACU leads 4-2
• Last Match vs. MACU: McPherson won 1-0 – Aug. 27, 2016 – McPherson, Kan.
• Players to Watch:
  • Carlos Reyna – GR – M/F
    • 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 15 Points, 47 Shots, 15 SOG, 2 GWG
  • Samuel Box – JR – F
    • 5 Goals, 5 Assists, 15 Points, 23 Shots, 14 SOG
  • Colby Swift – JR – GK
    • 12-8 W-L, 1.37 GAA, 90 Saves, .763 SV%, 6 SHO
• Matchup Notes:
  • McPherson will be competing in its first match of the 2022 season. The Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back 12-win seasons after going 12-8 during the 2021 campaign and 12-5-1 in 2020-21.
  • Despite the Bulldogs losing their top goal-scorer from a year ago, McPherson does return three of its top six point-scorers, headline by graduate student midfielder/forward Carlos Reyna, who notched the second-most goals (6) and tied for the second-most points (15) on the team.
  • McPherson also returns its top distributor from last season in junior forward Samuel Box, who tallied five assists to go with five goals for the second-most points on the team with 15.
  • MAC also returns its starting goalkeeper in junior Colby Swift. Playing every minute of McPherson's 20-game season a year ago, Swift finished the year with a 12-8 record in net, recording a 1.37 goals allowed average and tallied 90 saves on a .763 save percentage.
  • The matchup against MACU is just the seventh in the two programs' histories while the Evangels hold a 4-2 record in the all-time series.
  • Mid-America Christian holds a 2-0 mark against the Bulldogs in the teams' matchups played at the Dill Soccer Field. The last time the two teams met at MACU, the Evangels came away with a 5-0 victory on Sept. 15, 2015. MACU Player of the Decade Raphael Bonelle led the Evangels to victory, recording a hat trick with three goals on an astounding 11 shots with nine shots landing on-goal.
  • Both the Evangels and the Bulldogs have competed in the NAIA National Championship Tournament the last two seasons. McPherson is the first of five opponents that MACU will face that season that competed in the NAIA Opening Round last year.