BELLEVUE, Neb. – The No. 4 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team put together a late offensive onslaught over the final 15 minutes, scoring three goals over a seven-minute stretch as the Evangels cruised to a 3-0 victory at Bellevue on Tuesday.
SCORING SUMMARY
MATCH SUMMARY
- Mid-America Christian was able to muster an early shot attempt on-goal in the fourth minute, but Ricardo Ferreira's attempt was saved by Bellevue goalkeeper Romeo Paparesta to keep the Evangels off the board.
- MACU had an opportunity to take the lead with just over a minute left, but Alex Tan's attempt on-goal was stopped by Paparesta, keeping it to a 0-0 game heading into the half.
- The Evangels were able to force three corner kicks in the first three minutes of the second half, but the Evangels came up empty on the opportunity.
- MACU forced the first shot on-goal in the 57th minute off a Jack Price corner kick, but Rodrigo Ferreira's attempt was thwarted to hold the score at nil-nil.
- Bellevue's first on-target shot of the game came in the 67th minute off the foot of Sebastian Zapata, but Jeremi Abonnel came up with the save to keep it to a scoreless game.
- In the 71st minute, MACU got to play with a man-up advantage when Bellevue's Zapata was issued his second yellow card, ejecting him from the game.
- At the 77:22 mark, Mid-America Christian grabbed the lead as Jack Price netted his second goal of the season from six yards out middle on a cross from Rodrigo Albuquerque, making it a 1-0 game.
- The Evangels added to it just 1:05 later as Albuquerque pushed across his fifth goal of the season off a Diego Real assist, bringing the score to 2-nil.
- Cesar Ramirez capped off the scoring in the 84th minute as he curled in his second goal of the season to secure the 3-0 victory.
MATCH NOTES
- Mid-America Christian dominated the possession, outshooting Bellevue 14-4 while holding a 7-1 edge in shots on-goal.
- The game-winner from Jack Price was his first winner of the season and the third in his MACU career.
- With a goal and an assist, Rodrigo Albuquerque added three points to his team-leading 13 on the season.
- Scoring his second goal of the year, Cesar Ramirez has now scored 12 goals in his three-year MACU career as he currently sits just two goals outside the Evangels' NAIA Era Top 10 goal-scoring list.
- Needing to make just one save in the contest, MACU goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel tallied his seventh clean sheet of the season, moving into a tie at the top of the entire NAIA for most shutouts alongside Viterbo (Wis.)'s Ernesto Ascenzo.
- With the win, Mid-America Christian improves to 7-1 on the season while Bellevue falls to 2-5-2.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will open Sooner Athletic Conference play on its home turf as the Evangels will host Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Tuesday, Sept. 27. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Dill Soccer Field.
