SHREVEPORT, La. – The No. 17 MACU Men's Soccer team put together a strong road effort to open the season, battling No. 13 LSU Shreveport to a 0-0 draw at The Swamp on Thursday afternoon.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 0, LSU Shreveport 0
  • Mid-America Christian (0-0-1)
  • LSU Shreveport (0-0-1)

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Even though MACU held a bulk load of the possession early, LSU Shreveport had the first chance on-goal in the 15^th minute when Marcos de Elias was able to get around his defender on the left side and fire a shot toward the left post. However, MACU goalkeeper Alvaro Morera made a strong diving save to keep it a scoreless game.
  • It looked as though MACU scored the go-ahead goal in the 27^th minute when Ryan Jeanfreau got past the defense and slipped a shot inside the right post. However, he was flagged for being offside before the attempt.
  • MACU had a great chance in the 36^th minute when an LSUS foul just outside the 18-yard box set up Federico Palacios for a free kick, but his attempt sailed high, keeping it even at 0-0.
  • Neither team was able to get a shot off for the rest of the half as both teams took a scoreless draw into the break.
• Second Half
  • Mid-America Christian put together a dangerous opportunity in the 65^th minute when Palacios got around his defender while breaking into the right side of the 18-yard box. However, the defense collapsed, blocked his initial shot before Elias Hirt's floating cross to the left side sailed just long to an LSUS throw-in.
  • The Evangels had a couple more chances off of a pair of corner kicks in the 72^nd and 74^th minutes, but Carlos Lobo's long volley was deflected out of bounds before Jimmy Cabrera's long left side attempt sailed just wide right
  • MACU found itself in a tough situation as the Evangels needed to play down to 10 men over the final 5:45 due to a second yellow card being issued to Hayden Hoxie.
  • However, the Evangels defensively persevered, holding the Pilots off the board to secure the 0-0 draw.

MATCH NOTES

• With some late attempts with MACU playing a man down, LSU Shreveport held the shot advantage 11-7 with a 5-1 margin in shots on-goal.
• Federico Palacios led the Evangels offensive attack with three shots and the lone shot on-goal.
• Alvaro Morera notched his first career shutout in-goal, finishing with a career-high five saves in the draw.
• Even though the Evangels didn't get the win, it was a bittersweet result after the Pilots ended MACU's season in the NAIA Tournament Second Round, which ended in a 4-1 result in-favor of LSUS.
• It also marked the first ever tie between the two programs, who came into the day with the all-time series even at two wins apiece.

COACH HOXIE'S ANALYSIS

• "It's hard to describe the game in its entirety…it was segmented into phases, but the overarching theme of the game is competitive, emotional, and immature. All of which I thought that we held up to our end of the bargain on the day."
• "We had the better part of play for large moments, the pressure was good, passage of play good, but we lacked that final piece in the attacking third today…the little moment of magic. We had one called back for offside and could have gone up in the second half, but it wasn't to be on the day."
• "We've fulfilled our obligation and it's time to turn to the next opponent."

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will host its home-opener on Saturday as the Evangels will welcome McPherson (Kan.) to the Dill Soccer Field for a 7:30 pm kickoff.