OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 9 MACU Men's Soccer team was unable to overcome a 4-0 halftime deficit to No. 19 LSU Shreveport in the NAIA Tournament Second Round on Saturday night as the Evangels fell 4-1 at the Dill Soccer Field, suffering their first ever NAIA Tournament loss on its home pitch.  
 
SCORING SUMMARY 

• 1^st Half – LSUS – 0:39 – Goal: Guillermo Ferreiro (9) – LSUS 1, MACU 0
• 1^st Half – LSUS – 27:26 – Goal: Caleb Marchany (3) – LSUS 2, MACU 0 
• 1^st Half – LSUS – 29:03 – Goal: Jack Thomas (15); Assist: Joel Treub – LSUS 3, MACU 0 
• 1^st Half – LSUS – 36:25 – Goal: Jack Thomas (16); Assist: Kodai Tanaka – LSUS 4, MACU 0 
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 63:58 – Goal: Enzo Nogue (10) – LSUS 4, MACU 1 

MATCH SUMMARY 

• First Half 
  • It did not take long for the opening goal as it came just 39 seconds into the match. After Joel Trueb got an open look on the right side that was saved by MACU goalkeeper Claudio Fuentealba, Guillermo Ferreiro recovered the loose rebound and punched it into the open net to set the score to 1-0.
  • Mid-America Christian (14-3-4) had a prime opportunity to counter in the 13^th minute with a Jair Estrada strike from the middle pitch from 20 yards out, however it was deflected off the top of the crossbar before Sebastian Rebolledo's follow-up header was saved in incredible fashion by LSUS goalkeeper Kyle Mcleish to keep it a one-goal game.
  • In the 27^th minute, LSU Shreveport extended its lead after a yellow card on MACU's Francois Geris-Rey set up a Jack Thomas free kick from the left side just outside the box. Thomas's cross wound up rattling its way off a few defenders before finding the foot of teammate Caleb Marchany, who drilled it into the left corner just past the outstretched arms of Fuentealba. 
  • The Pilots kept adding to advantage with their third goal of the half on a perfectly executed give-and-go by Thomas and Treub as Thomas received the assist from the middle pitch about twenty yards out and curled it into the bottom left corner, making it 3-0 with 15:57 remaining in the half.  
  • The explosive first half for LSUS continued with its final goal in the 36^th minute, as a cross by Kodai Tanaka snuck underneath the hands of a sliding Fuentealba, allowing Thomas to poke it directly into the net from just a few feet away to give LSU Shreveport a 4-0 edge entering halftime.  

• Second Half 
  • The Evangels just missed their first goal of the night when a corner kick by Enzo Nogue set up a Federico Palacios shot attempt from the middle pitch at 25 yards out, but Mcleish snared it on a dive to his left.
  • Two-and-a-half minutes later, the Evangels connected for their first goal and only goal of the after a Pilots handball in the box setup Nogue with a penalty kick. Nogue precisely struck his freebie into the top right to close the score to 4-1 in the 64^th minute.
  • Mid-America Christian was unable to muster any other quality scoring chances the rest of the way as LSUS secured the 4-1 win.

MATCH NOTES 

• LSU Shreveport out-shot Mid-America Christian 17-14 with an advantage of seven shots on goal to MACU's three.  
• Enzo Nogue found himself in MACU's NAIA Era (2007-present) record book with his sixth penalty goal in six attempts to surpass alumni Rodrigo Albuquerque's five in 2020. 
• The loss marks the second-straight year the Evangels season has ended at home in the second round of the NAIA Tournament after the Evangels battled Bellevue last year to a 3-3 draw, but the Bruins advanced to the NAIA final site with a 7-6 win in the shootout on Nov. 18, 2023.
• The defeat marked the first first time the Evangels lost back-to-back home games since the conclusion of the 2018 regular season.
• Despite the tough result, Mid-America Christian wrapped up another successful season with its fourth-straight SAC regular season title. It also marked the sixth-straight season that MACU had won at least 14 games.