OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 6 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team picked up one of its biggest wins of the season on Monday afternoon at the Dill Soccer Field as the Evangels came away with a 2-0 victory over No. 4 Columbia.
SCORING SUMMARY
MATCH SUMMARY
- Mid-America Christian was able to take advantage of its first opportunity of the match in the eighth minute when Jeremi Abonnel launched a deep ball to the middle of the field the Rodrigo Albuquerque knocked ahead with a header for the run of Luan Cesar. Breaking down the left side, Cesar was able to beat the defender to the ball and rifle a 14-yard blast into the top left corner out of the reach of the keeper, bringing the score to 1-nil.
- Cesar Ramirez was able to force a couple of on-target shots in the 15th and 20th minutes, but Cougars goalkeeper Liam Gibbs stopped both shots to keep the Evangels to a 1-0 lead heading into the halftime break.
- Luan Cesar had an opportunity to net his second goal of the match early in the second half when Dante Luz found Cesar open from seven yards out on the right side, but pushed his shot wide of the right post just 35 seconds in.
- Sophomore goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel made a series of strong saves for the Evangels over the next 10 minutes, making a leaping stab on Jackson Schrum's header in the 50th minute as well as a lofted shot from the left side toward the right corner from Ethan Blake in the 55th minute.
- Columbia put together a strong chance in the 65th minute when Diego Navia's 14-yard shot toward the left post was deflected by Jeremi Abonnel on a diving stop.
- With 4:43 left to go, Rodrigo Albuquerque just missed an opportunity to score when Luan Cesar ran down a deep pass down the far sideline before breaking toward the right side of the box. Cesar slipped Albuquerque a pass in the middle of the box, but the open shot from 16-yards out was pushed wide left.
- With just under three minutes left, Luan Cesar was able outplay a defender on a cleared ball to midfield before delivering a pass to a wide open Albuquerque on the break. The graduate student forward with a one-on-one with the keeper was able to get by on the left side before Gibbs tripped up Albuquerque, being issued the red card off the second yellow and setting up a penalty kick. With no trouble, Albuquerque was able to juke new keeper William Reese to the left before blasting a shot into the right side to bring the score to 2-nil.
MATCH NOTES
- Mid-America Christian put together a dominant first half against Columbia, outshooting the Cougars 5-0 before holding a slim 9-8 edge over CC in the second half for a 14-8 shot margin. The Evangels also posted a slim 6-5 lead in shots on-goal.
- Luan Cesar's eighth-minute goal was his second game-winner of the season, moving into the team-lead for game-winning goals.
- By tallying a goal and an assist, Rodrigo Albuquerque finished with three total points to move into the outright team scoring lead with four goals and 10 total points.
- With the assist on Cesar's goal, sophomore goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel recorded his first collegiate assist.
- Abonnel notched his sixth clean sheet of the season and recorded a season-high five saves. The sixth shutout on the season moves him into a tie with Austin Custar (2010) for the third-most clean sheets in a single-season in program history.
- The win over No. 4 Columbia marked the Evangels' second win against a team ranked in the top 10 of the NAIA Top 25 this season. MACU's previous ranked victory came in a 1-0 decision against then No. 6 Missouri Valley on Sept. 5 in Olathe, Kan.
- The Evangels handed the Cougars their first loss of the season, as MACU improved to 6-1 on the year while Columbia fell to 2-1-2 overall.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will now have eight days off before returning to action for its final non-conference match before the start of Sooner Athletic Conference play. The Evangels will head to Bellevue, Neb. on Tuesday, Sept. 20 for a 2 p.m. match against perennial power Bellevue.
