GOODWELL, Okla. – The No. 12 MACU Men's soccer team was able to overcome a sluggish start in its regular season finale on Tuesday night, scoring both goals in the last ten minutes to defeat Oklahoma Panhandle State 2-1 at Anchor D Stadium to claim the program's fourth consecutive Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title.

SCORING SUMMARY 

• 1^st Half – OPSU – 31:43 – Goal: Saphir Salaouandji (2) Assist: Mauricio De Santiago - OPSU 1, MACU 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 81:41 – Goal: Oscar Gallardo (2) Assist: Uviwe Qasha – MACU 1, OPSU 1 
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 87:14 – Goal: Toby Lansdowne (1) Assist: Lucas Catosso – MACU 2, OPSU 1

MATCH SUMMARY 

• First Half 
  • Mid-America Christian (12-1-4, 7-0-2 SAC) had a great opportunity to get on the scoreboard early as an OPSU defender was given a yellow card just outside the box to allow senior captain Enzo Nogue to take a free kick that clipped off the right goal post and out for a goal kick in the fifth minute.
  • Oklahoma Panhandle State (2-11-2, 0-8-1 SAC) took three shots, all being on-goal and successfully converted the lone goal of the first half in the 31^st minute off an incredible Saphir Salaouandji strike from 25-yards out on the right side toward the top left corner, assisted by Mauricio De Santiago off a free kick.  
  • MACU struggled to get things going on offense in the first half as the Evangels were held to just four shots in the first half with none of them finding their target.
• Second Half 
  • Early into the second half, the Evangels were able to pick up the tempo on offense putting their first three shots on-goal all coming in a span of ten minutes from the 55^th to 65^th minutes with a pair coming from Josh Mackin and one from Jair Estrada, but Aggies goalkeeper Aron Kanyai was able to save all three attempts.  
  • Maintaining possession for the majority of the half, MACU was finally able to connect in the 81^st minute. After OPSU deflected a MACU corner outside the 18-yard box, Jimmy Cabrera quickly relayed the ball back into the box. With the pass deflecting off a defender, Uviwe Qasha gathered the loose ball and passed it to Oscar Gallardo on the left side of the box, Gallardo then from 10 yards left of the goal was able to pierce one to the bottom right corner of the net to tie it up at 1-1.  
  • With time winding down on MACU's chances of capturing the league title, Mid-America Christian finally found the winner with just under three minutes left. After another MACU corner was briefly cleared out of the box, the ball ended up to the foot of team captain Lucas Catosso. Squaring up to take a shot from 25-yards out from the middle, the ball deflected off the foot of Toby Lansdowne and redirected into the bottom right corner of the goal to give MACU the 2-1 victory.  

MATCH NOTES 

• Despite getting off to a rough start offensively, Mid-America Christian was still able to hold the advantage in the attack, outshooting Oklahoma Panhandle State 9-5 with a 5-4 edge in shots on-goal.
• Oscar Gallardo connected for his second career goal as an Evangel and senior Uviwe Qasha tabbed his third assist of the season.  
• The first career Evangel goal for Toby Lansdowne could not occur at a better time as the game winning goal in the 87^th minute marked the third time this season the Evangels have produced a game-winning goal in the 87^th minute or later. 
• The assist for Lucas Catosso on the game-winner was the first of his Evangels career. 
• Senior goalkeeper Alvaro Morera notched his second win in three starts this season for MACU, improving to 2-0-1 in-goal while allowing just one goal and made three saves for a .750 save percentage.
• The win over Oklahoma Panhandle State University marks a four-match win streak for the Evangels who have an all-time record of (6-0-1) against OPSU.  
• With the victory and Oklahoma City and John Brown playing to a 2-2 draw in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, Mid-America Christian leap-frogged the Golden Eagles in the SAC standings to become the conference's regular season champions for the fourth-straight year. MACU won the league by a single point, tallying 23 points (7-0-2) to JBU's 22 (7-1-1) while OCU finished third in the conference standings at 20 (6-1-2).
• Impressively, during the Evangels' SAC Championship four-peat, MACU has gone through three different head coaches with Danny Frid (2021, 2022) capturing the first two, Neil Hilton winning it in 2023 and now head coach Aaron Hoxie in his first year with the program in 2024.

COACH AARON HOXIE'S ANALYSIS 

• "Very proud of the players tonight for winning the conference championship. We needed some luck from Oklahoma City and we got it tonight."
• "Oklahoma Panhandle made it hard for us and we were, once again, up against it after conceding an early goal in the first half. I don't think it was lack of effort or energy, it was just a good goal and full credit to them and lack of quality on our end overall."
• "A blitz occurred in the second as they were content to sit and make it hard for us. Chances were created in the areas that we train on, but did not have any success. We needed a piece of luck and we got it. The scenes were wild at that point and the players were able to see out the rest of the game."
• "Congratulations to all of MACU Nation. We thank you for supporting us on this journey. Thank you to the Lord for giving me a platform for life. Special thanks to my family for putting up with the relentless hours of my absence from home, the love and support that I feel from them keeps me going."

UP NEXT 

• Mid-America Christian will now prepare as the top seed for the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament next week as the Evangels will host the quarterfinal match at the Dill Soccer Field on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Dates, times and opponents will be announced by the league office on Wednesday following the conclusion of the Wayland Baptist/Southwestern Christian game.