OKLAHOMA CITY – With a month to go before the start of the regular season, the MACU men's soccer team has announced that it has inked 19 student-athletes to join the NAIA powerhouse program for the upcoming 2023 campaign.
Overall, the Evangels have added 12 experienced collegiate transfers and seven high school standouts to join the 12 returners from last season's roster.
"We are excited to welcome these young men to MACU, we can't wait to see them excel in the classroom and on the field," said MACU head coach Neil Hilton. "We have brought in a mixture of youth and experience to maintain the standards that have been set in recent years. We are excited to see what these boys bring to the program this year."
Perhaps the biggest addition to the MACU roster for 2023 is Charlie Betts. A 5-9 junior forward from Bunbury, Australia, Betts is an NCAA D-I transfer from North Florida, who saw action in 11 games and made one start while logging 295 minutes.
However, Betts biggest impact was made in his previous two seasons with Milligan (Tenn.), where he earned NAIA All-America Honorable Mention accolades in 2021. In that campaign scoring 10 goals and dished out eight assists for 28 points to finish tied for the team-scoring lead while guiding the Buffaloes to a 15-3-1 overall record, an 11-2 mark in Appalachian Athletic Conference play and a bid to the NAIA Tournament. Betts was an All-AAC First Team honoree.
As a freshman, Betts was a big part of Milligan's AAC Regular Season Title team after scoring five goals and tallying four assists for 14 points as the Buffaloes went 12-3 overall, 9-1 in AAC play and a spot in the NAIA Tournament Opening Round.
One of the biggest JUCO transfers to join the program in 2023, sophomore forward Henry Tolbert will bring a dynamic scoring presence in MACU's attack. In two seasons at Iowa Lakes Community College, Tolbert netted 11 goals and dished out five assists while helping lead the Lakers to an appearance in the NJCAA Division I National Quarterfinals in 2021.
Tolbert was a highly decorated high school standout from Austin, Minnesota, scoring 72 goals and leading Austin High School to four conference championships while garnering High School All-American accolades.
After having a ton of international recruiting success, the Evangels will be looking to continue to build toward that success with Switzerland's Yasha Schaerer joining the program. The 5-9 midfielder put together a stellar club career with U21 FC Zurich and also competed on the U15 Switzerland National Team.
"He is a player we expect to make an immediate impact," remarked Hilton. "Playing at a very competitive level in Switzerland, he is comfortable using both feet, has a lot of drive about his game and is very good at taking set pieces."
MACU will also be continuing to add sensational talent from the JUCO level as well as Iowa Central Community College star Kolby Godbolt will be looking to add some striking talent to the MACU attack. The 6-0 forward from North Liberty, Iowa led the Tritons offensive efforts last season by scoring 10 goals on 49 shots over 16 matches played.
As one of the best defensive programs in the nation, the Evangels continued to add great defensive talent to its backfield with the signing of Oscar Gallardo. A 6-1 junior defender from Malaga, Spain, Gallardo comes to MACU from Santa Barbara City College, where he started 31 of 34 games for the Vaqueros. In those two seasons, SBCC allowed just a 1.46 goals allowed average in 2022 and a stellar 0.98 GAA in 2021.
In replacing two of its best goalkeepers in program history, the Evangels will be looking to Claudio Fuentealba to spearhead the MACU defense. The 6-0 junior stopper from Rancagua, Chile comes to MACU from Holy Cross (Ind.), helping lead the Saints to a 10-5-2 record last season while recording a 0.93 GAA on a .779 save percentage while pitching seven shutouts.
While the Evangels have continued to add experienced depth to its roster, MACU is bringing in a wellspring of local high school talent, headlined by a pair of All-State stars in Northwest Classen's Federico Palacios and Santa Fe South's Jimmy Cabrera.
Another player who will go down as a local high school legend, Palacios wrapped up an immaculate high school career at Northwest Classen with 61 goals and 65 assists. During the 2023 season, the 5-5 forward scored 20 goals and dished out 18 assists to earn the 2022-23 Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Soccer Player of the Year as well as the 2022-23 Oklahoma Boys' Soccer Jim Thorpe Player of the Year recipient.
A 5-7 forward, Cabrera graduated from Santa Fe South as the program's all-time assists leader while also breaking the single-season assists mark in just his freshman season. In 2022, Cabrera helped lead the Saints to a 20-1 record and put South High through a dominant playoff run where the team outscored their opposition 26-2 while beating Southeast High School 5-1 in the 4A State Championship game.
From a champion at the state level to a champion at the JUCO level, the Evangels will be looking to get some big time production from junior forward and midfielder Enzo Nogue. The 5-10 Pignan, France native has competed for a powerhouse program in Dallas College-Richland over the past two seasons and has helped lead the Thunderducks to back-to-back NJCAA D-I National Championships. Last season, Nogue netted seven goals and dished out an assist while tallying two goals and five assists during his 2021 freshman campaign.
As MACU's reputation continues to grow within the NAIA, the Evangels added another top tier talent from two other strong programs in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) with Midland (Neb.)'s Pietro Musso and Dordt (Iowa)'s Phil Appelt arriving to the program.
Over the past two seasons, Musso has been one of the most prominent members in the Warriors offensive attack. In 2021, the 6-1 forward as a freshman led MU with four goals and an assist while tallying three goals and two assists during his sophomore campaign. Last season, Midland finished fifth in the highly-competitive GPAC with a 5-3-3 league record and a 10-5-5 mark overall.
Competing with rival Dordt, Appelt was also an impact player for a Defenders program that finished the year with a 9-4-6 overall record and came in third in the GPAC with a 6-1-4 conference tally. During the 2022 campaign, the 5-10 midfielder notched a goal and four assists while logging the sixth-most minutes on the team (1307) after finishing second on the squad in scoring during his freshman 2021 season with four goals and a dime.
The Evangels also added to their goalkeeping depth with former Iowa Wesleyan stopper Alvaro Morera joining the program. Last season with the Tigers, the 5-9 keeper recorded a 1.82 GAA and notched 54 saves on a .701 save percentage after recording 98 saves during his freshman campaign in 2021.
Along with Cabrera, two more Santa Fe South High School standouts will be making their way to MACU with Jair Estrada and Ivan Camacho joining the program in 2023. A 5-7 midfielder, Estrada earned All-Conference honors while competing for the Saints while Camacho netted 25 goals and dished out 12 assists over his career as both players played crucial roles in the Saints state title run.
Joining former NOC-Tonkawa teammate Kareem William, defender Rahmon Oduborisa will be looking to bring a wellspring of experience and depth to the Evangels' backfield. In three seasons with the Mavericks, Oduborisa saw action in 47 games and made 28 starts and helped guide NOC-T to a pair of stellar winning seasons.
Another international club star, freshman forward Oliver Hellgren will look to add another big scoring piece for MACU. The 6-1 Swede was his club's leading scorer during the 2022 season with Anderstorp Gymnasiet while also making a huge impact in multiple Cup Tournament games.
To close out MACU's incoming transfers, the Evangels added a local scoring talent in Rose State (Okla.) forward Jack Wood. In two seasons with the Raiders, Wood netted 10 goals and dished out two assists and was even RSC's top goal scorer in 2021 with seven goals.
The final signee for the Evangels' 2023 signing class is Norman North High School prodct Bostyn Carroll. In his career with the Timberwolves, he led his team to a State Championship game in 2022 while earning All-State honors in 2023 and All-District accolades the last two seasons.
Mid-America Christian will open competition on Friday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. as the Evangels will host Eastern Oklahoma State in a scrimmage before officially opening the regular season with a high-profile matchup with LSU-Shreveport on Thursday, Aug. 24 for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at the Dill Soccer Field.
