OKLAHOMA CITY – Even though No. 15 MACU Men's Soccer struggled to get the offense going in the first half, the Evangels finally found their way late in the second half as late goals scored by Ian Cupee and Pietro Musso propelled the Evangels to a 2-0 victory over Oklahoma City at the Dill Soccer Field on Tuesday to put MACU in sole possession of first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

• 2^nd Half – MACU – 77:59 – Goal: Ian Cupee (1), Assist: Enzo Nogue – MACU 1, OCU 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 88:48 – Goal: Pietro Musso (3), Assists: Tony Ngombi – MACU 2, OCU 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • It looked as though Oklahoma City (8-1-2, 3-1-1 SAC) took the lead in the 19^th minute when OCU Marco Alongi broke open into the left side of the 18-yard box, quickly centered it to Jordan da Costa, who quickly relayed it to Ruben Fahiya wide open near the right post for the easy tap-in. However, the goal was negated when the Fahiya was called for offside on the play.
  • Even though the Stars maintained the possession for most of the half, the only on-target chance for OCU came in the 33^rd minute when a left side cross found the foot of da Costa. However, he scuffed his attempted half-volley on-goal as Claudio Fuentealba pounced on the low shot for the easy save.
• Second Half
  • Once again, shots were hard to come by for both teams in the second half as the only on-target attempt for either team through the first 20 minutes of the second stanza came off a weakly placed header by Henrique Duarte in the 65^th minute off a deep free kick that Fuentealba was easily able to run up on and save to avert any potential crisis.
  • In the 78^th minute following a David Imbert foul, Mid-America Christian (9-1-3, 4-0-1 SAC) was finally able to find the game-winner off a set piece. With Enzo Nogue taking the free kick from just outside the right side of the 18-yard box. He perfectly lofted a cross to the left post that Ian Cupee muscled in to give MACU the 1-0 advantage.
  • Even though MACU did put just their second shot on-goal in the 88^th minute off a Francois Geris-Rey deep liner from the left side that was easily snared by OCU goalkeeper Alexis Bertrand, the Evangels added to their advantage just a minute later when Josh Macklin relayed a ball from the right corner to Toby Lansdowne camping the right baseline inside the 18-yard box. He tapped a pass back to Tony Ngombi in the top right corner of the box before relaying a pass to Pietro Musso wide open at the top of the penalty box. From 17-yards out, Musso slipped in the insurance goal into the bottom right corner of the goal to wrap-up the 2-0 final.

MATCH NOTES

• In the cold, blustery contest, both teams struggled to generate shots against each other's stifling defenses as Oklahoma City held a slim 9-8 shot advantage while Mid-America Christian managed to put three attempts on-goal to just two for the Stars.
• The goal netted for Ian Cupee marked his first career Evangels goal while the assist for Enzo Nogue was his fourth of the season, extending his team-leading point total to 18.
• The score from Pietro Musso went down as his third goal of the season, moving into third on the team in scoring with eight total points while Tony Ngombi's assist on the play gave him the team-lead in dimes once again with five. The second assist from Toby Lansdowne went down as his first career one for the Evangels.
• Even though he was relatively unchallenged on shots, senior goalkeeper Claudio Fuentealba controlled the box with several intercepted crosses as he ultimately finished with two saves for his 23^rd career win and his 12^th career clean sheet. With the shutout, he moved alone into third in MACU's career record book and currently sits just one shy of Austen Parker (2019) for second on the Evangels' list.
• With the result, the Evangels remained unbeaten against Oklahoma City since the 2018 season as MACU owns a 4-0-3 record against the Stars in that time frame. It also went down as the second-straight time MACU shutout OCU.
• Mid-America Christian's defense continues to be downright stifling in Sooner Athletic Conference play as the Evangels have now outscored their opponents 14-2 through five league contests.
• The result also allowed MACU to improve to 5-1-2 this season against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll at the time the Evangels faced them.

COACH AARON HOXIE'S ANALYSIS

• "First half was always going to be tough because the wind definitely had an effect on how we played.  However, I thought we started the game well, created several half chances and a few good chances.  As the half wore on, credit to OCU, they got themselves into the game and were better for large parts.  Our guys did whatever it took to keep it level and it was valiant at times."
• "Second half was much better, we were aided by the wind, which forced them into some tough situations.  Still, we were just lacking that bit of quality that we normally have, coupled with some bad decisions on the ball and the half was always going to be a grind.  In games like these, the players have to learn to impact the game in other ways with their attitudes and desire to compete were on-point.  Excellent commitment on our first goal and we took our chance on the second goal.  The clean sheet feels rewarding."
• "Getting our fourth clean sheet in conference play has been a testament to the players concentration.  Earlier in the season, we lose or tie a game like this because we give up something cheesy.  Recently, we've been limiting those moments or coming up with a big play and it's been good to play from the front foot.  Very happy with the massiveness that these boys showed today...that is what won the game."

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back on the road on Saturday as the Evangels travel to Fort Worth, Texas for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff against Texas Wesleyan at Martin Field.