OKLAHOMA CITY – With the Sooner Athletic Conference announcing its men's soccer preseason poll on Wednesday, the expectations for Mid-America Christian remain sky high as the Evangels were once again tabbed as the league's preseason favorite.
Voted upon by the league's 12 head coaches, MACU was well-represented in the preseason ranking as the Evangels garnered 80 points and received eight of the 10 first-place votes.
Mid-America Christian is coming off another stellar campaign that saw the Evangels wrap-up the year with a 17-0-4 overall record and went 8-0-1 in SAC play to capture the program's fourth-straight SAC Championship as well as the team's fifth-consecutive SAC Tournament title after defeating Science & Arts 3-1 at the Dill Soccer Field on Nov. 9.
USAO narrowly beat out John Brown for second in the initial standing with 66 points and a first-place vote while the Golden Eagles notched 65 points and a first-place vote. Oklahoma City placed fourth with 52 points while Southwestern Christian rounded out the top five with 50 points.
Under first-year head coach Aaron Hoxie, the Evangels will be looking to continue building a program that is considered one of the strongest in the NAIA as MACU finished as the No. 1 team in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll last year and held the top spot over the final seven weeks of the season.
"Having spent a considerable amount of time in the SAC, I know that it seems like MACU has always had the bullseye on us and this year is no different," stated Hoxie. "This league is full of quality coaches and players, so I fully expect that this year will be an absolute slugfest. We are preparing to get the very best from every team we play and I would expect nothing less from them."
Since 2019, the Evangels have put together a dominant display in the SAC, amassing an overall record of 90-10-11 (.860) overall record with a 35-2-6 (.883) mark against conference competition. MACU has been particularly great the last three years, going 55-3-7 (.869) with an incredible 23-0-4 (.926) league record.
Even though MACU lost a large sum of its talent from last season, the Evangels do return strong quality in its backfield with the reigning SAC Goalkeeper of the Year Claudio Fuentealba headlining the returners along with one of the best center-backs in the conference in Sebastian Rebolledo as well as a trio of strong backs in Jair Estrada and team captains Lucas Catosso and Uviwe Qasha.
MACU also returns a ton of quality in its midfield play with Francois Geris-Rey and team captain Enzo Nogue along with experienced forwards in Pietro Musso and Henry Tolbert.
Despite MACU losing some key pieces from last season's SAC Championship squad, the Evangels are bringing in an elite class of transfers and freshmen that will look to make an immediate impact on this year's roster.
"Overall, I think our schedule, which is loaded with top 25 caliber teams, will provide a strong challenge for our squad," remarked Hoxie. "However, these are the games that are needed to test our team's meddle and achieve success. Our overall depth is the strength of our squad and I feel confident our style of play will help us be successful."
Mid-America Christian will open its season against a pair of top 10 teams in the NAIA last season as the Evangels travel to Indiana to take on the 2022 NAIA National Champion No. 6 Bethel in Mishawaka on Aug. 22 before heading to Winona Lake on Aug. 24 to battle No. 7 Grace.
