Mid-America Christian University

OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 6 MACU Men's Soccer team continued to have a flair for the dramatic at the Dill Soccer Field on Saturday night as Pedro Lyra netted his first career game-winner with 4:03 remaining to propel MACU to its third-straight 2-1 victory.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 2, Oklahoma City 1
  • Mid-America Christian (12-1-2, 5-0-1 SAC)
  • Oklahoma City (4-7-3, 2-3-1 SAC)

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – MACU – 19:17 – Goal: Jimmy Cabrera (1), Assist: Elias Hirt – MACU 1, OCU 0
• 1^st Half – OCU – 31:31 – Goal: Francisco Miquel (4), Assist: Matheus Ambrozio – MACU 1, OCU 1
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 85:57 – Goal: Pedro Lyra (1), Assist: Matias Garcia – MACU 2, OCU 1

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Neither side found much success on the offensive end through the first 19 minutes as the only shot on-goal came from Oklahoma City's Noah Ragozzino that was routinely saved by MACU goalkeeper Julian Huertas.
  • In the 20^th minute, Mid-America Christian found its go-ahead goal. After a foul on the left side of the pitch set up Elias Hirt, he skirted a cross to the middle of the pitch for Jimmy Cabrera, who rifled a 30-yard blast through the box and inside the right post to give the Evangels the 1-0 advantage.
  • Two minutes later, Cabrera tried another long distance try when OCU goalkeeper Alan Amberson came high off his line and his poor clearance found the foot of the senior midfielder. However, his attempt was a little too direct and went straight into the mitts of Amberson to keep it a one-score game.
  • In the 26^th minute, Filliph Kamfjord nearly made a massive highlight when he got the ball deep in MACU's defensive corner and dribbled all the way through the OCU defense to near the top of the box, however, his strong strike at the top was too direct and Amberson made another easy save to keep it a 1-0 contest.
  • The Evangels continued to pepper the goal when Matias Garcia got around the OCU defenders inside the left side of the 18-yard box before rifling a strong left-footed strike toward the left post that Amberson made a strong save, forcing the ball out the end line for a corner kick with just over 16 minutes to go in the half.
  • Unfortunately, Oklahoma City found its equalizer in the 32^nd minute off a set piece. After MACU was called for a foul along the right sideline, OCU's Matheus Ambrozio lofted a sensational deep ball into the box toward the left post. The Stars top striker Francisco Miquel rose high and struck a stellar header into the top right corner out of the reach of Huertas to even it up at 1-1.
  • The Evangels had four more shot attempts over the final 13 minutes, but were unable to put anything on-target as the two teams were even heading into the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • Chances for both teams came at a premium in the second half as the only on-target try for either side came from Kamfjord in the 52^nd minute when MACU's quick counter from the left side to the right as the centering pass found Hirt, who relayed it to the Norwegian striker on the right side of the box. He made a cut back to his left to open himself up against the center-back, but his left-footed strike was too direct as Amberson made another routine save to keep the two sides even.
  • Over the next 33 minutes, neither side had success putting shots on-frame as MACU held a 6-2 shot differential over the stretch, but the Evangels struggled to put targets on-frame while MACU's stout defense blocked both of OCU's attempts.
  • In the 85^th minute, the game flipped on its head when MACU's throw-in down the left side and a hard-sliding tackle from behind by OCU's Sebastian Castillo into the back of the legs of Vito Callaci caused a bit of a scuffle with Castillo and MACU's Pedro Lyra picking up yellows. However, OCU's fortunes changed in a hurry when OCU's Joao Felipe Dellu was issued a straight red for striking the face of Diego Sano, forcing the Stars to play down a man over the final 5:48.
  • With just over four minutes remaining, the Evangels found their winner. After Haruya Higuchi had his initial shot blocked out for a corner kick. The Evangels perfectly executed a short-corner give-and-go between Lyra and Garcia. After Garcia fed Lyra breaking into the left side of the box, he rifled a stellar shot across the six-yard box that found its way inside the right post to give MACU the 2-1 advantage.
  • With the Stars playing down a man, they were unable to get a shot off against MACU parking the bus defensively as the Evangels secured their third-straight 2-1 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian dominated the possession, out-shooting Oklahoma City by an 18-8 margin with a 7-2 edge in shots on-goal.
• The goal scored by Jimmy Cabrera in the first half was his first of the 2026 campaign and the fourth of his Evangels career.
• It was also a season first for Pedro Lyra as his winner in the 86^th minute was his first in his inaugural year with MACU. Lyra became the eighth different Evangel to score a game-winner this year as impressively, no one on the 12-win team has more than two winners.
• Elias Hirt and Matias Garcia each notched an assist on MACU's two goals as the dime from Hirt was his fifth of the campaign while Garcia garnered his second of the year.
• Julian Huertas continued to rack up the wins in-goal for the Evangels, moving to 11-1-2 on the season after conceding just one goal and making a save.
• The Evangels continued to put together a flare for the dramatic at the Dill Soccer Field as it was the fourth time this season that MACU had scored the winning goal in the last six minutes on its home pitch.
• With the win and Wayland Baptist suffering a home loss to Texas Wesleyan, MACU gained some breathing room at the top of the SAC table as the Evangels with 16 points (5-0-1) have a four-point lead over the Rams (4-2) and No. 14 John Brown (4-2) with each sitting on 12 points.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will start its final road swing of the regular season next week as the Evangels head down to Texas to take on Nelson for a 7:30 pm kickoff at the Lions Athletic Complex in Waxahachie, Texas.