OKLAHOMA CITY – Senior captain midfielder Josh Macklin played the match of his life in the MACU Men's Soccer team's matchup against Southwestern Christian in the Sooner Athletic Conference Quarterfinal at the Dill Soccer Field on Tuesday night as his goal and two assists led the Evangels to a huge 3-0 win.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Southwestern Christian 0
  • Mid-America Christian (8-7-4)
  • Southwestern Christian (7-5-3)

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – MACU – 9:06 – Goal: Josh Macklin (1), Assists: Diego Sano, Matias Garcia – MACU 1, SCU 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 54:46 – Goal: Haruya Higuchi (5), Assist: Josh Macklin – MACU 2, SCU 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 56:18 – Goal: Jimmy Cabrera (3), Assists: Josh Macklin, Diego Sano – MACU 3, SCU 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • With Mid-America Christian holding a majority of the early possession, the Evangels took advantage of their first opportunity on-goal. In the 10^th minute, Matias Garcia dished it back to Diego Sano along the left sideline before lofting a perfect ball in the left side of the box for Josh Macklin. Off the immediate touch, Macklin flicked an open soft shot into the bottom right corner of the goal to give MACU the 1-0 advantage.
  • The Evangels had two more great chances just a minute later when Henry Tolbert headed down a deep send and got around his defender to set up a one-on-one with the keeper. However, in making a delayed decision on whether to shoot it or cross it into the middle, his late decision to shoot it was easily saved by SCU goalkeeper Enzo Camps.
  • Just 17 seconds later in the 11^th minute, Ryan Jeanfreau got a chance after MACU got the ball back after a failed clearance when Macklin sent Tolbert to the open right corner. His cross found Jeanfreau near the right post, but his shot was directed straight at Camps as well for the save.
  • Shots were difficult for both teams to come by over the next 33 minutes as the best chance for a second came from distance off the foot of Carlos Lobo in the 39^th minute, but he sent it just a little left as MACU took its 1-0 advantage into the half.
• Second Half
  • Southwestern Christian got the initial look at a shot as Augustine Mateos attempted the Eagles first shot of the night just 42 seconds into the second half, but he sent it high and wide right.
  • After not playing in the first half, Papa Toure put up some quality minutes to start the second half as his first try in the 52^nd minute was saved by Camps, but the Evangels found their second just moments later.
  • In the 55^th minute, Macklin made a stellar play in the midfield to flick down a headed ball by an SCU midfielder before dribbling by a defender and feeding a sensational ball to Haruya Higuchi on the run. With a one-on-one with the keeper, Higuchi got by Camps on a dribble to his left and slipped the uncontested shot into the open net to set the score to 2-0.
  • Just a minute-and-a-half later, Jimmy Cabrera found himself in the stat sheet when Sano tracked down a loose ball in the midfield and quickly relayed a pass to Macklin on the left side. On his cross to the middle of the goal box, Toure dummied like he was going to receive the pass, but it went through to an open Cabrera, who took a single dribble to his right before slipping his low liner just inside the right post to bring the lead to 3-0.
  • Southwestern Christian's best chance at a goal came in the 70^th minute when Otavio Avila rifled a strong shot toward the low left post that Dante Caffaro made a stellar leaping grab on.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian downright dominated the possession, outshooting Southwestern Christian by a 16-5 margin with an 8-2 edge in shots on-goal.
• The goal scored by Josh Macklin marked his first of the season and the third in his two-year career with the Evangels with it also being his second game-winner. The contest also marked his first ever two-assist game at MACU, allowing him to finish with a career-high four points for the contest.
• Haruya Higuchi and Jimmy Cabrera also increased their goal totals for the season as Higuchi netted his fifth of the season while Cabrera's score marked his third of the year to move alone into third on MACU's scoring list for the season.
• Diego Sano recorded his first two-assist match as a member of the Evangels, moving him into a four-way tie for the team-lead with four on the year while Matias Garcia also claimed his second assist of the season.
• Papa Toure led the shooting efforts for MACU with four shots, putting three on-goal while Carlos Lobo finished with four shots as well.
• Returning to his starting goalkeeper spot, Dante Caffaro didn't face a ton of shots in the game, but played a strong match by constantly intercepting crosses while needing to tally only two saves for his fourth shutout of the season while improving to 6-2-2 in-goal.
• The win was MACU's second of the season over Southwestern Christian as the Evangels defeated SCU back on Oct. 11 by a score of 2-1 at Cagle Field in Bethany, Okla.

UP NEXT

• If No. 3 seed Mid-America Christian will return to the SAC Championship game, it will need to do it on the road as the Evangels prepare to head to Siloam Springs, Ark. on Friday as MACU will battle No. 2 seed John Brown in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Alumni Field in the SAC Semifinal.