OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off a hard-fought draw at No. 13 LSU Shreveport on Thursday, the No. 17 MACU Men's Soccer team will face its first regular season foe at the Dill Soccer Field on Saturday as the Evangels host McPherson (Kan.) for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 0-0-1
• Last Match: Tie at No. 13 LSU Shreveport – 0-0 – Aug. 21, 2025 – Shreveport, La.
• Top Performers:
  • Federico Palacios – JR – F
    • 3 Shots, 1 SOG, 1 GP, 1 GS, 61 Minutes
  • Lucas Catosso – SR – D
    • 1 GP, 1 GS, 84 Minutes
  • Alvaro Morera – SR – GK
    • 0-0-1 W-L, 0.00 GAA, 5 Saves, 1.000 SV%, 5 SF
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian faced some strong competition to open the season on Thursday as the Evangels traveled down to Shreveport, La. to battle No. 13 LSU Shreveport. After 90 minutes of regulation, the Evangels and Pilots battled to a 0-0 draw.
  • MACU faced a daunting challenge in the contest as the Evangels had to play down to 10-men for the final 5:44 of the match. Even though the Pilots managed to get four of their 11 shots and two of their five shots on-goal during this time frame, MACU managed to still keep LSUS off the board and preserve the tie.
  • Federico Palacios led the MACU attack by attempting three of MACU's seven shots in the contest while also tallying the only shot on-goal.
  • In his first season as the starting goalkeeper, Alvaro Morera notched his first career shutout, tallying a career-best five saves in the draw.
  • The result marked the ninth-straight year the Evangels forced either a draw or notched a win as well as making it the second season in a row MACU forced a draw after getting a 1-1 tie at No. 6 Bethel (Ind.) in the 2024 opener.

SCOUTING REPORT
McPherson (Kan.)

• Record: 0-1
• Last Match: Lost at No. 15 Baker (Kan.) – 3-0 – Aug. 21, 2025 – Baldwin City, Kan.
• Series vs MACU (2008-): MACU leads 5-2
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 5-0 – Aug. 26, 2022 – Dill Soccer Field
• Series Streak: MACU won 1
• Players to Watch:
  • Nathan van Wyck – JR – F
    • 2024 Stats: 10 Goals, 4 Assists, 24 Points, 41 Shots, 26 SOG, 2 GWG, All-KCAC Second Team
  • Sergio Najera – SR – MF
    • 1 Shot, 1 SOG, 72 Minutes
  • Alvaro Marchal – JR – GK
    • 0-1-0 W-L, 3.00 GAA, 2 Saves, .400 SV%, 5 SF
• Team Notes:
  • McPherson is opening the season with a pair of very tough road games as the Bulldogs suffered a 3-0 loss at No. 15 Baker to start the year on Thursday. In that defeat, MC gave up a hat trick to Noah Conover, putting across scores in the 42^nd, 46^th, and 84^th minutes as the Wildcats held a commanding 12-4 shot advantage over the Bulldogs.
  • Even though he didn't play much of a factor in Thursday's contest, the Bulldogs do bring back an All-KCAC Second Team performer in Nathan van Wyck, who netted 10 goals and dished out four assists a year ago for McPherson.
  • In his first match with the team, it was a tough outing for the team's new goalkeeper Alvaro Marchal, who managed to only stop two shots while conceding three for a .400 save percentage.

The last time the two teams met back on Aug. 26, 2022, the Evangels scratched across five goals with four different goal scorers in Rodrigo Albuquerque, Mason Gonzalez, Kareem Williams, and Georg Westerlund to go along with a McPherson own goal. MACU put together an astounding 24-4 shot advantage with a 12-2 margin in shots on-goal.