OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU men's soccer program under first year head coach Aaron Hoxie officially announced its 2024 schedule on Wednesday.
The Evangels are coming off another incredibly successful 2023 campaign where MACU finished the year as the No. 1 rated team in the NAIA for eight consecutive weeks, wrapping up the season with a 17-0-4 overall record while winning both its third-straight Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title and its fourth consecutive SAC Tournament Championship.
However, the Evangels will look to bounce back from a devastating end to their season after being eliminated in the Second Round of the NAIA Tournament. In that contest, MACU battled Bellevue to a 3-3 draw through regulation and two overtime periods, but dropped an unfortunate 7-6 heartbreaker in the postgame shootout.
Hoxie, who is entering his first season at the helm of the MACU men's soccer program, has built a robust schedule with the intention of returning to the National Tournament.
"While we return many key contributors from last year's team, we're excited to add other key components that will help us compete at both the conference and national levels," Hoxie stated. "Even though we lost some top players from last season, I believe this year's team is ready to grow and begin to taste the success that this program is so accustomed to. We will have a monster schedule with what I anticipate will be four to five NAIA Top 25 teams with three potentially being ranked in the top 10. Between a very strong non-conference schedule and a loaded conference slate, we can expect to face a challenge against quality teams every week."
"We are excited to get back to work when the boys arrive back to campus in a few short weeks. We again have a very tough schedule that is going to challenge our group but we will be ready to compete at the highest level," stated MACU Associate Head Coach James Roberson. "We want to continue to build on the recent success of the program and progress beyond the foundations that were laid by previous teams. There is nothing like testing a new group of players with a road trip to Indiana to play the 2022 National Champions Bethel University and then play perennial top 10 powerhouse Grace College."
After opening its season on the road against Bethel on Aug. 22 and Grace on Aug. 24, the Evangels will take on Benedictine (Kan.) in its home-opener on Aug. 30 to start a three-match non-conference home stand. The Evangels will follow it up with a Sept. 2 contest against Williams Baptist (Ark.) before battling KCAC powerhouse Ottawa (Kan.) on Sept. 7.
MACU will be back on the road for another massive match against another NAIA power program in Oklahoma Wesleyan on Sept. 13 before closing out its non-conference schedule at home against Friends on Sept. 17 and William Woods (Mo.) on Sept. 21.
The Evangels open SAC play at home against Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Sept. 28 with its Dill Soccer Field slate including contests against Central Christian (Kan.) on Oct. 5, John Brown (Ark.) on Oct. 8, Oklahoma City on Oct. 15 and Southwestern Christian (Okla.) on Oct. 22. MACU's conference road contests include dates at Science & Arts (Okla.) on Oct. 1, Texas Wesleyan on Oct. 19, Nelson (Texas) on Oct. 26 and Oklahoma Panhandle State on Oct. 29.
The Evangels will hold their Senior Night ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Dill Soccer Field following the completion of the women's game against Central Christian.
On-top of its stellar varsity schedule, the Evangels are also looking to put together another outstanding Reserve campaign as MACU has put together back-to-back winning seasons. The Evangels will once again be competing in the Sooner Athletic Conference Reserve Team Tournament after hosting its inaugural event last season.
In the 2023 reserve tourney, MACU finished in second place after defeating Southwestern Christian 3-1 in the semifinal round before falling 2-1 to Science & Arts in the Championship match.
"Being part of the first SAC Reserve Tournament last year was a great opportunity," said MACU Reserve head coach Paolo Lopez. "We played in the final and certainly made mistakes that aided our opponents to defeat us, but I am more than confident that this year we will learn from those mistakes and will be champions."
The Evangels will need to navigate another loaded tournament field as the league has expanded the competition to six teams with the addition of John Brown as well as guest member NCAA Division II Southern Nazarene (Okla.), a former member of the SAC. The reserve teams from Central Christian, Science & Arts and Southwestern Christian will join the Evangels in returning to the tournament. The event will once again be held at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kan. from Oct. 9-11.
