OKLAHOMA CITY – For the third consecutive season, the No. 1 MACU men's soccer team staked its claim as the Sooner Athletic Conference Champion as a late Kolby Godbolt goal sealed the 1-0 victory at Oklahoma City in the Evangels' regular season finale on Friday night at Brian Harvey Field.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• 2^nd Half – MACU – 80:15 – Goal: Kolby Godbolt (7), Assist: Pietro Musso, Diego Real – MACU 1, OCU 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian (14-0-3, 8-0-1 SAC) had a great chance at scoring the opening goal in the 12^th minute when Francois Geris-Rey's cross from the top left of the 18-yard box found the head of Jack Price at the edge of the six-yard box, but OCU goalkeeper Danilo Vilani made a sensational diving save on the re-directed header toward the lower left side to keep it a scoreless game.
• With just under five minutes to go, the Evangels had another big opportunity off a header when Federico Palacios sent in a cross from the top right corner of the penalty box to Diego Real in the middle, but Oklahoma City (6-7-3, 2-4-1 SAC) dodged another bullet when Vilani made another stellar save on the attempt toward the lower left post, allowing the Stars to keep it to a nil-all game going into the halftime break.
• MACU's first chance on-goal in the second half didn't come until the 72^nd minute when Palacios got open on the right side and rifled a 22-yarder toward the lower right post, but once again, Vilani was stout in-goal by falling on the hooking shot.
• Oklahoma City's only on-goal attempt of the match came in the 79^th minute as the Stars mustered a quick counter that eventually got to the feet of Marco Alongi on the right side from just outside the penalty area, but Alongi's strike from 18-yards out was a straight low-liner right to MACU goalkeeper Claudio Fuentealba for the easy save.
• Two minutes later, the Evangels finally found their winner. After a Kolby Godbolt header off a free kick deep send was initially saved by Vilani, MACU was able to muster another quick attack after the keeper clearance was intercepted by the Evangels. Real sent a perfectly placed deep ball toward the right side of the box for a breaking Pietro Musso, relaying a cross back in toward the middle for Godbolt. This time, Godbolt found paydirt by slipping a re-directed six-yarder inside the right post before Vilani could react, giving MACU the 1-0 advantage.
• Oklahoma City was unable to muster any late attack against the stout Evangels defense as MACU walked away with the 1-0 victory.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian thoroughly controlled the pace from start to finish, outshooting Oklahoma City 18-4 with a 7-1 margin in shots on-goal.
• The winning goal from Kolby Godbolt moved the North Liberty, Iowa product alone into second on MACU's scoring sheet with his seventh goal of the season while also marking his third-winning shot of the 2023 campaign.
• Pietro Musso and Diego Real were credited assists on the winner, as Real collected his third dime of the campaign while Musso tallied his second of the year. The assist for Real is the 14^th in his two-year MACU career, moving him up to a tie for sixth in MACU's NAIA Era record book with Caleb Roldan (2016-19).
• Real also led MACU's offensive effort with a match-high five shot attempts, putting two on-goal.
• Claudio Fuentealba continued his ascent up MACU's NAIA Era season record book for goalkeepers after turning in his 12^th win and sixth shutout off a solo save. Fuentealba joined Jakob O'Meara-Gill (2017) in a tie for fourth for single-season victories while the sixth clean sheet also put him in a tie for fourth in the season book with Austin Custar (2010).
• The victory allowed the Evangels to remain unblemished in the last six meetings against the Stars, improving to 3-0-3 in the series since 2018.
• For just the second time in program history, Mid-America Christian wrapped up the regular season with an undefeated record, capping the 2023 regular season campaign at 14-0-3 and an 8-0-1 mark in SAC play. The last time it happened came in 2021 when MACU entered league tournament play with a 16-0-1 record.
• On-top of winning the team's third straight regular season title, it also marked the third straight time MACU did it without a league loss. In the past three season, Mid-America Christian owns a 23-0-4 against conference foes.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now make its preparations for Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament play as MACU will carry the No. 1 seed into the league tournament, which will begin on Friday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. at the Dill Soccer Field. The Evangels will find out who their opponent will be when the tournament field is announced by the league on Monday.