OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 19 MACU Men's Soccer team struggled to generate much offense in its return home to the Dill Soccer Field as the Evangels dropped another tough match by a score of 2-0 to No. 4 Oklahoma Wesleyan on Thursday night.
 
SCORE

• Oklahoma Wesleyan 2, Mid-America Christian 0
  • Mid-America Christian (1-3-2)
  • Oklahoma Wesleyan (1-0-2)

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – OKWU – 1:48 – Goal: Joao Vitor Gomez (1), Assist: Adrian Mejia – OKWU 1, MACU 0
• 1^st Half – OKWU – 30:46 – Goal: Julian Tovar (4), Assists: Carson Papp, Alejandro Aleman Lopez – OWKU 2, MACU 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • It didn't take long for Oklahoma Wesleyan to get on the board in the second minute. After Biel Campo's header was blocked out of bounds to set up an Eagles corner kick, Adrian Mejia's out swinger found the head of Joao Vitor Gomez, putting it into the right side to make it an early 1-0 OKWU advantage.
  • The Eagles had a chance to add a second in the 22^nd minute when a giveaway by MACU at the edge of the penalty box set up Campo for a great look from close range on the right side and while his shot was blocked, Tylor Guerrero had an open look on the rebound, but sent his shot over the crossbar.
  • OKWU had another strong chance a minute later when its top stri Julian Tovar got free on the left side of the box, but MACU goalkeeper Alvaro Morera crashed at the point of attack to save it before Vitor Merinho's follow-up was blocked and cleared by the MACU defense.
  • The Evangels got a couple of on-target chances in the 31^st and 35^th minutes off the feet of Ryan Jeanfreau and Federico Palacios, but OKWU goalkeeper Marko Rodic managed to stop both shots to keep MACU off the board.
  • In that very same 31^st minute, the Eagles came up with their second score when a takeaway on the right side allowed Carson Papp to cross toward the right post for the head of Julian Tovra, squeezing it just inside the right post to make it a 2-0 game.
  • MACU had one last chance in the final minute to try and cut into the OKWU lead, but Palacios' shot was blocked and deflected off of Palacios for a goal kick.
• Second Half
  • Oklahoma Wesleyan had the first great chance in the 50^th minute from the right side off the foot of Mateja Bozic, but Morera came up with another solid save once again to keep it a two-goal game.
  • Jimmy Cabrera had MACU's first chance on-goal in the 62^nd minute, but once again, Rodic came up with another strong save to keep it at 2-0.
  • Morera came up with another important save on Tovar's attempt in the 72^nd minute and then another header by Gomes was saved by Morera again in the 83^rd minute.
  • Morera once again came up with another massive save in the 84^th minute, but MACU struggled to find chances to cut into the OKWU advantage.

MATCH NOTES

• Oklahoma Wesleyan controlled most of the possession, outshooting the Evangels 13-10 with a 7-3 edge in shots on-goal. However, MACU managed to play on a more even field with the Eagles in the second half with the shot total being even at 6-6 in the second stanza.
• Federico Palacios led MACU in the offensive attack with four of the Evangels shots, but just one landed on-frame.
• After conceding a pair of first half goals, MACU goalkeeper Alvaro Morera was able to come up with some massive stops in the second half, notching four of his five saves over the final 45.
• MACU saw its home win streak against Oklahoma Wesleyan come to a tough end as the Evangels were 4-0 against OKWU at the Dill Soccer Field entering the night.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back at home on Monday for another tough non-conference test as the Evangels host (RV) Columbia (Mo.) for a 5:30 p.m. kickoff at the Dill Soccer Field.