OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 1 MACU men's soccer put together a massive scoring outburst in the first half, netting four goals in the opening 45 minutes as the Evangels ran away with another 4-1 victory over Texas Wesleyan on Saturday night at the Dill Soccer Field.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• 1st Half – MACU – 17:33 – Goal: Jack Price (8), Assist: Federico Palacios – MACU 1, TWU 0
• 1st Half – TWU – 20:58 – Goal: Luca Hoff (5) – MACU 1, TWU 1
• 1st Half – MACU – 26:47 – Goal: Jack Price (9), Assist: Enzo Nogue – MACU 2, TWU 1
• 1st Half – MACU – 30:16 – Goal: Pietro Musso (1), Assist: Jack Price – MACU 3, TWU 1
• 1st Half – MACU – 43:50 – Goal: Kolby Godbolt (4), Assist: Emanuele Grumo, Kareem Williams – MACU 4, TWU 1

MATCH SUMMARY

• In the first 15 minutes of the game, both teams appeared to be equally determined to come out with the win, however the visiting team could not hold MACU's offense efforts as Federico Palacios was able to steal possession down the left side before making a pinpoint cross to Jack Price, who found himself alone at the right post for the six-yard header, giving the Evangels the 1-0 lead in the 18^th minute.
• Texas Wesleyan (4-5-2, 0-3 SAC) found the equalizer just two minutes later after a long ball sent to the attack from the Rams' goalkeeper was headed back by Yasha Schaerer to the Evangels backline. However, some miscommunication between Emanuele Grumo and Oscar Gallardo allowed Luca Hoff to win possession and shoot a 14-yarder into the top right corner of the goal, drawing the game even at 1-1.
• Mid-America Christian (9-0-3, 3-0-1 SAC) kept on testing Texas Wesleyan defense and after some quick passes in the midfield, Enzo Nogue got the ball with enough space to hit a great shot in the left post, which came back straight to Price's feet, who was in the right place and in the right time to simply push the ball into the net and put the Evangels back in the lead with 18 minutes remaining in the first half.
• In the 31^st minute, Pietro Musso scored his first career Evangels goal when Price received the ball in the right side of the field, drove inside and dished a through ball to Musso's great run into the box who just had to shoot as the Rams' keeper was coming out and give the 3-1 insurance goal to MACU.
• The Rams had a great opportunity to decrease the score difference on the free kick from Levin Brunner with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. After the stroke from Brunner from just outside the penalty box, MACU goalkeeper Claudio Fuenteabla was well-positioned to make an unbelievable save before the ball hit the post and came back to his hands.
• The Evangels scored their last goal of the game in the 44^th minute, when Emanuele Grumo found Kareem Williams wide open in the left side of the pitch, who had time and space to drive the ball and deliver a beautiful cross to Kolby Godbolt almost inside of the 6-yard box.
• In the 1^st minute of the second half, the Rams had another chance of changing the scoreboard, again with Luca Hoff, as the striker received the ball just outside of the 18-yard box and was qualified enough to turn and strike a dangerous ball by inches wide of the right side post.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian commanded a heavy possession advantage in the match over Texas Wesleyan as the Evangels out-shot the Rams 21-7 with an 11-4 advantage in shots on-goal.
• The Evangels continued to remain red-hot in the offensive attack, matching their season-high goal total after also tallying four in a 4-1 win at Southwestern Christian on Tuesday.
• For the second straight match, Jack Price earned himself a brace, tallying a pair of scores to go with an assist for a career-best five points in the match. Overall, Price led the offensive efforts with a match-high five shots, four of which were on-goal.
• The pair of goals allowed the senior forward to stay atop of the SAC in goals scored in league play with six so far through four matches.
• Price's game-winner marked the eighth of his career, moving him into a tie with MACU Player of the Decade Raphael Bonelle (2012-15) for the third-most career winners and sits just one back of Dominik Tajak (2017, 2019) for second in the program record book.
• Pietro Musso became the 10^th different Evangels player to net a goal this season with the first of his MACU career.
• The goal for Kolby Godbolt marked his fourth on the season, moving him alone into second on MACU's scoring list this season.
• With his assist on Godbolt's score, Kareem Williams now leads the team in dimes with four. Federico Palacios (2), Enzo Nogue (2) and Emanuele Grumo (1) also dished out assists alongside Price.
• Claudio Fuentealba improved his record to 8-0-2 in-goal for the Evangels. The junior keeper conceded just one goal to go with three saves for a .750 save percentage.
• The Evangels notched their eighth straight win over Texas Wesleyan with their last defeat to TWU coming on Oct. 4, 2016 in a 2-1 result in Fort Worth, Texas.
• Approaching the midway point of the conference season, the win allowed the Evangels to stay within striking distance of John Brown (Ark.) for the Sooner Athletic Conference lead. The Evangels with 10 points currently sit just two back of the Golden Eagles with 12 points on a 4-0 league mark.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will have a week to prepare for its next match as the Evangels will be back at-home at the Dill Soccer Field on Saturday, Oct. 14 for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas).