Mid-America Christian University

OKLAHOMA CITY – Just a week removed from facing Wayland Baptist in the regular season finale, the top-seeded No. 3 MACU Men's Soccer team was rematched against the Pioneers in the Sooner Athletic Conference Quarterfinal hosted at the Dill Soccer Field on Wednesday night as the Evangels cruised to a 3-0 victory.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Wayland Baptist 0
  • Mid-America Christian (16-1-2)
  • Wayland Baptist (4-9-4)

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – MACU – 37:28 – Goal: Elias Hirt (3), Assists: Klaus Gartner, Matias Garcia – MACU 1, WBU 0
• 1^st Half – MACU – 42:58 – Goal: Klaus Gartner (5), Assists: Vito Callaci, Matias Garcia – MACU 2, WBU 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 68:40 – Goal: Haruya Higuchi (4), Assists: Elias Hirt, Jimmy Cabrera – MACU 3, WBU 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian peppered the Wayland Baptist through the first 21 minutes as the Evangels attempted eight shots to just one on-target attempt by the Pioneers in the 11^th minute by Felipe Dos Santos. In time frame, Matias Garcia put a pair of shots on in the sixth and 21^st minutes to go along with on-target shots by Ellis Dunn and second and 13^th minutes, but MACU was unable to put one across.
  • Just after the midway point of the half, the Evangels placed four more shots that didn't find the back of the net or reach the goalkeeper before MACU goalkeeper Julian Huertas made his second save of the contest on Baptiste Hervaud's attempt in the 34^th minute.
  • The Evangels finally found the back of the net in the 38^th minute when two of the new subs made an immediate impact in less than a minute of on-field time. On the throw-in on the left side, Matias Garcia distributed it to Klaus Gartner, who immediately sent it back to Garcia on the run to the left corner. He found Elias Hirt on the cross near the left post, lofting it over the defender for the junior midfielder to head it inside the open left post to set the score to 1-nil.
  • A minute later, MACU committed a nearly costly mistake on an errant pass in their defensive half, allowing Renato Katrip to get a open long range strike that Huertas made a strong in-between save, knocking it out the left goal line for a corner kick.
  • With just over two minutes left, the Evangels added a little insurance heading into the break when Garcia cleared out a Pioneers throw to Vito Callaci open in the midfield. He tapped it to Gartner breaking down the middle on the run, as he was completely unmarked sprinting toward the top of the 18-yard box. He took a strong dribble to his left before rifling a strong strike inside the lower left post out of the reach of the keeper to make it a 2-0 game going into the half.
• Second Half
  • While Mid-America Christian held a large chunk sum of the possession through the first 23 minutes of the second half, the Pioneers sent the entire team back defensively, not allowing MACU a shot in that time frame after attempting 15 shots in the first half.
  • The Pioneers were the only team to attempt a shot in that sequence, coming on a strike by Hervaud in the 58^th minute that Huertas was able to corral and keep out of the net.
  • In the 69^th minute, the Evangels finally found their third. With MACU working it down the right side, the Evangels clinically dissected the Pioneers defense as Leonardo Leitao laid it off for Hirt before breaking toward the box. Centering it through the WBU defense to Jimmy Cabrera, the senior midfielder lofted a cross into the box that Leitao deked running up on, allowing Haruya Higuchi to get to it on the open run. He quickly snapped a strong strike inside the right post to extend the edge to 3-0.
  • Both teams had limited chances over the final 20 minutes as WBU only managed to put two shots on-target in the 78^th minute and with 17 seconds left that Huertas snared for saves while Dunn had an on-goal shot with four minutes remaining that was saved, allowing the game to end in a 3-0 result.

MATCH NOTES

• While Mid-America Christian held a thorough 18-8 advantage in the shooting category, both teams were relatively even in shots on-goal with the Evangels owning an 8-7 edge.
• Elias Hirt and Klaus Gartner led MACU's offensive efforts in their reserve performances as each finished with a goal and an assist. The goal for Hirt was his third of the season while he increased his team assist lead with his ninth on the year.
• The dime for Hirt allowed him to become only the sixth Evangel to reach nine or more assists in a season in the NAIA Era (2007-present), moving him into a tie for fifth in MACU's record book with Rodrigo Albuquerque (2021).
• Gartner became the fourth Evangel this season to score five or more goals and by adding an assist, it was the third game this season he notched three or more points in a match with the last coming in a 4-0 win at Nelson on Oct. 20.
• With his fourth goal of the season, Haruya Higuchi reached double-digits in career goals scored at MACU in his second year with the program.
• Jimmy Cabrera is on the cusp of breaking into MACU's single season top 10 for assists as he notched his seventh of the year while Vito Callaci also continued to rack up points with his fourth assist of the season, putting him third on the team in points at 14.
• Matias Garcia turned in his first multi-assist match as a two-year member of the Evangels, allowing him to shoot up into third on the team's assist list this year with five.
• For the first time all season, freshman goalkeeper Julian Huertas had to face more than five shots on-goal and was up to the task, tallying a career-high seven saves for his eighth shutout of the 2026 campaign.
• Huertas' results allowed him to climb up the single season record book for goalies as he matched his coach Claudio Fuentealba for the fourth-most wins (15) and the fourth-most shutouts (8)
• With the victory, MACU has now won 12 of the last 13 meetings against Wayland Baptist and are undefeated against the Pioneers since the 2017 season. The Evangels now own a 15-8-1 record against WBU since first facing the squad in 2009.
• The result will also send the Evangels to their 10^th consecutive SAC Semifinal match as MACU has not lost in the Quarterfinal round since the 2016 campaign.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will face its crosstown rival in Southwestern Christian in the SAC Semifinal on Saturday as kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. at the Dill Soccer Field.