OKLAHOMA CITY – In seeking the program's fifth consecutive Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament title, the top-seeded No. 12 MACU Men's Soccer will open the tourney with a quarterfinal match against Nelson on Wednesday night with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. at the Dill Soccer Field.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 12-1-4 (7-0-2 SAC)
• Last Match: Won at Oklahoma Panhandle State – 2-1 – Oct. 29, 2024 – Goodwell, Okla.
• Top Performers:
  • Enzo Nogue – SR – F/M/D
    • 9 Goals, 5 Assists, 23 Points, 19 Shots, 14 SOG, 3 GWG
  • Federico Palacios – SO – F
    • 5 Goals, 2 Assists, 12 Points, 22 Shots, 13 SOG, 1 GWG
  • Pietro Musso – SR – F
    • 3 Goals, 3 Assists, 9 Points, 21 Shots, 10 SOG, 2 GWG
  • Claudio Fuentealba – SR – GK
    • 10-1-3 W-L, 0.73 GAA, 28 Saves, .737 SV%, 5 SHO
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian clinched its fourth-straight SAC regular season title in dramatic fashion at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Oct. 29 in the season finale. Trailing 1-0 heading into the last 10 minutes, senior defender Oscar Gallardo netted the equalizer with 8:19 remaining before Toby Lansdowne deflected in the game-winning goal with 2:54 to go to seal the 2-1 victory.
  • With Lansdowne netting his first career goal in the victory, he became the 15^th different Evangel to score one of MACU's 36 goals during the 2024 season on the team that has shown tremendous offensive balance in the attack.
  • By scoring the game-tying goal and being a part of a defense that held the Aggies to only one goal on five shots, Gallardo earned his second SAC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
  • The Evangels were particularly great during SAC play on the defensive side. In nine league matches this season, MACU only conceded four goals for a 0.44 goals allowed average. The Evangels also didn't allow double-digit shots in any of its conference games, giving up only 53 shots (5.88 per game) and just 19 shots on-goal (2.11 per game).

SCOUTING REPORT
Nelson (Texas)

• Record: 6-5-7 (1-5-3 SAC)
• Last Game: Won vs. Central Christian (Kan.) – 1-0 – Oct. 29, 2024 – Waxahachie, Texas
• Series vs MACU (2004-): MACU leads 16-5
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 4-0 – Oct. 26, 2024 – Waxahachie, Texas
• Series Streak: MACU won 8
• Players to Watch:
  • Ethan Stewart – JR – M
    • 3 Goals, 6 Assists, 12 Points, 35 Shots, 16 SOG, 1 GWG
  • Teddy Nkamanyi – JR – F
    • 4 Goals, 1 Assist, 9 Points, 26 Shots, 13 SOG, 1 GWG
  • Pedro Matosso – JR – F
    • 3 Goals, 2 Assists, 8 Points, 25 Shots, 13 SOG
  • Leonel Cuellar – SO – GK
    • 3-1-4 W-L, 0.90 W-L, 26 Saves, .788 SV%, 2 SHO
• Team Notes:
  • Nelson managed to clinch its spot as the No. 8 seed in the SAC Tournament during the final game of competition of the regular season. Hosting the team it was battling with for the final spot, Central Christian on Oct. 29, the Lions put together a gutsy defensive performance as Jafet Ramirez's goal in the 24^th minute proved to be the difference maker in the 1-0 victory.
  • Overall, the Lions were not able to generate much on the offensive end this season as Nelson scored the second-fewest goals of any team in league play (8) while ranking seventh in the league in goals allowed (19).
  • Much like MACU, Nelson was extremely balanced on the offensive end as 17 different players netted NU's 29 total goals for the year, led by junior forward Teddy Nkamanyi with four goals while junior midfielder Ethan Stewart ran the Lions attack with a team-high six assists and 12 points. Splitting time in-goal between Leonel Cuellar and David Beltran, Cuellar was the more effective of the two Lions keepers, posting a 3-1-4 record and a 0.90 goals allowed average to go with a .788 save percentage.
  • Mid-America Christian has fared well against Nelson since the 2019 season, winning the last eight meetings and have been particularly dominant in the last six contests, outscoring the Lions 29-2 in those games. The two teams met just two weeks ago as MACU ran away with a dominant 4-0 victory on Oct. 26 as Enzo Nogue recorded his first career multi-goal game in the win.