Mid-America Christian University

OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 3 MACU Men's Soccer team celebrated a special Senior Night in-style at the Dill Soccer Field on Wednesday night as the Evangels cruised to a dominant 5-1 win over Wayland Baptist.

The Evangels opened by honoring their 14 graduating seniors prior to the start of the contest and wrapped up the evening by hoisting the Sooner Athletic Conference Championship trophy after winning their fifth league title in the last six years.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 5, Wayland Baptist 1
  • Mid-America Christian (15-1-2, 8-0-1 SAC)
  • Wayland Baptist (4-8-4, 3-5-1 SAC)

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – MACU – 32:30 – Goal: Leonardo Leitao (11), Assist: Ebenezer Boti – MACU 1, WBU 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 49:42 – Goal: Diego Sano (1), Assists: Max Cavanagh, Elias Hirt – MACU 2, WBU 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 72:47 – Goal: Jimmy Cabrera (2) – MACU 3, WBU 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 81:53 – Goal: Jorge Garcia (1), Assists: Klaus Gartner, Vito Callaci – MACU 4, WBU 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 83:05 – Goal: Vito Callaci (5), Assists: Gabriel Avellan, Frankie Salazar – MACU 5, WBU 0
• 2^nd Half – WBU – 87:13 – Goal: Renato Katrip (4), Assists: Josue Gonzalez, Joao Valmorbida – MACU 5, WBU 1

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Both teams struggled to find on-target chances early in the first half, but Mid-America Christian dominated a bulk of the possession as the first two shots on-goal came from the Evangels in the 17^th and 19^th minutes. With the first on-frame, Lyra was able to slip a long-distance free kick under Wayland Baptist's wall, but it was a comfortable save for WBU goalkeeper Benjamin Goddard.
  • Leonardo Leitao had the most dangerous chance for MACU just two minutes later when the junior midfielder ran up on a loose ball being battled for on the left side of the 18-yard box and rifled an attempt toward the top left corner that Goddard forced out over the crossbar for a corner kick.
  • While MACU wouldn't get another shot on-frame for another 13 minutes, the Evangels capitalized on that opportunity in the 33^rd minute. With Elias Hirt taking a right side corner, he perfectly placed it to Guilherme Barbosa, who flicked a ball into the six-yard box. While Ebenezer Boti's initial header was blocked by a WBU defender on the initial try, the ball trickled to Leitao unmarked at the right post, tapping in the go-ahead to goal to make it 1-nil.
  • Wayland Baptist's only real threatening ball in the first half came on a header by its leading scorer in Baptiste Hervaud as he popped it just over the crossbar in the 37^th minute. In the 41^st, MACU's Klaus Gartner managed to put a strong header on-goal from the right-side cross toward the top left, but Goddard had it well read for the save, sending MACU into the half with the 1-0 edge.
• Second Half
  • It didn't take long for MACU to get the offense back out-and-running to start the second half as Filliph Kamfjord just narrowly missed putting MACU up 2-0 in the 49^th minute when Ellis Dunn relayed a perfect pass to the Norwegian striker entering the right side of the box, but unfortunately pinged the right side of the right post on his swing.
  • Moments later, MACU finally found its second when Hirt sent a cross from the left side to Max Cavanagh, relaying it to Diego Sano wide open at the top. From 30 yards out, Sano smashed a strike toward the right post that was partially deflected by a Pioneers defender and bounced over the dive of Goddard, sneaking inside the right post for the game-winner.
  • Another one of MACU's seniors found his way into the score column on a set piece in the 73^rd minute when a foul by the Pioneers set up Jimmy Cabrera with a free kick from 26-yards out on the left side. On the try, Cabrera hooked a shot over the wall and inside the left post out of the reach of the keeper to set the score to 3-nil.
  • With time winding down in the final 10 minutes, the Evangels found a pair of quick goals in the 82^nd and 84^th minutes. On the first, junior midfielder Jorge Garcia scored his first career goal when Daniel Gallagher sent Vito Callaci on the open run down the right sideline. He perfectly relayed his cross into the middle of the box for Klaus Gartner, who had Garcia wide open toward the right post on the tapped through pass, punching it inside the post to make it a 4-0 contest.
  • On MACU's final goal of the game, it was once again a stellar piece of passing that set up Callaci this time, as Gabriel Avellan sent a ball into the left side of the box to Frankie Salazar, sending a short diagonal to Callaci for the open net in the middle after the keeper tried to stop the initial attack by Salazar in the 84^th minute.
  • Wayland Baptist did score a garbage time goal against MACU's reserves when Joao Valmorida flicked Josue Gonzalez's cross to Renato Katrip for the Pioneers only score with 2:47 remaining in the contest.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian thoroughly dominated the possession, outshooting Wayland Baptist 25-7 with a 12-2 margin in shots on-goal, making it the second time this season MACU recorded double-digit on-target shots.
• The Evangels notched five different goal scorers in the contest as Leonardo Leitao continued making his push for consideration for SAC Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year with his 11^th goal of the season and becoming the only player in the conference this season to net 10 goals in SAC play.
• Senior midfielder Diego Sano was credited with the game-winner with his 49^th minute score, netting his first goal of the Team Captain's two-year Evangels career.
• Jimmy Cabrera wrapped up a special Senior Night with his second goal of the season.
• The goal for Jorge Garcia allowed him to join Sano for first career MACU goals netted in the contest, becoming the 14^th different Evangel to net a goal this season.
• Vito Callaci put together a highly productive second half by scoring a goal and recording an assist a team-high three points in the match. The score allowed him to move into a tie for the second-most goals scored on the season with Filliph Kamfjord while his 13 points places him alone for second on the team.
• Elias Hirt continued to add to his incredible assist counter on the season as he notched his team-leading eight of the year, moving alone into first in the SAC in overall assists while his six assists in league play also ranks as the most.
• Ebenezer Boti, Max Cavanagh, Klaus Gartner, Gabriel Avellan, and Frankie Salazar also each finished the contest with assists. For Avellan, it was his third assist of the season, Boti and Gartner notched their second of the season, while it was the first career MACU dimes for Cavanagh and Salazar.
• Julian Huertas continued to tally wins after playing a full 90 minutes in-goal, needing to make only one save while conceding one to improve to 14-1-2 in-goal. Huertas needs just one more win to match his coach Claudio Fuentealba (2023) for the fourth-most goalie wins in a season.
• MACU continued its dominant run by improving to 14-8-1 all-time against Wayland Baptist as the Evangels are 11-0-1 against the Pioneers since the 2018 season. The last time the Pioneers defeated MACU, Assistant Coach James Westfield was a member of the WBU squad.
• With victory, the Evangels finish SAC play with 25 points (8-0-1) to own the league by seven points over second place No. 19 John Brown (18, 6-3-0). The 25 conference points is the most recorded by a league winner since the Evangels won the SAC title with 25 during the 2023 season, edging out the Golden Eagles by a point. The seven-point margin is also the largest a team has won the conference in the last decade.

UP NEXT

• It will be a rematch between Mid-America Christian and Wayland Baptist in the SAC Quarterfinal on Wednesday, Nov. 4 as the contest is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff at the Dill Soccer Field.