Mid-America Christian University

OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Soccer team opened the James Roberson Era with a statement victory at the Dill Soccer Field on Thursday night as the Evangels out-shot Paul Quinn 19-0 to cruise to a 3-0 victory.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Paul Quinn 0
  • Mid-America Christian (1-0)
  • Paul Quinn (0-1)

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – MACU – 36:40 – Goal: Leonardo Leitao (1) – MACU 1, PQC 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 51:47 – Goal: Elias Hirt (1) – MACU 2, PQC 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 73:45 – Goal: Klaus Gartner (1), Assists: Elias Hirt, Diego Sano – MACU 3, PQC 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian put together some strong chances in the first 11 minutes as Filliph Kampfjord had a shot saved in the eighth minute before Leonardo Leitao just a minute later rifled a long shot that pinged hard off the crossbar. At the 10:23 mark, Elias Hirt managed to put a shot on as well that PQC keeper Morgan Kendall made a stellar leaping save.
  • The Evangels struggled to find chances before getting a massive golden opportunity in the 38^th minute. After Daniel Gallagher got stepped on in the attack of the top right corner of the goal box, the Evangels were awarded with a penalty kick. On the PK, Leonardo Leitao came through with MACU's first goal of the season as his stutter step approach allowed him to securely rifle a shot inside the left post to make it a 1-0 game.
• Second Half
  • It didn't take long for the Evangels to add some insurance to start the second half. In the 52^nd minute, Hirt made an incredible individual effort to intercept a pass on the right side deep in Tigers territory. With the individual effort on the quick counter, he cut back from a retreating defender in the box and perfectly sliced a shot into the top left corner of the goal to extend the edge to 2-0.
  • The PQC keeper made two solid saves against a pair of Haruya Higuchi shots in the 57^th and 61^st minutes to keep it a two-score game.
  • In the 66^th minute, following a Paul Quinn foul resulting in a yellow, Hirt came ever so close to getting on the brace. From about 30-yards out on the left side, his free kick pinged off the left post and toward the right side of the box before eventually being cleared by the Tigers.
  • Closing out the scoring in the 74^th minute, the Evangels scored their first goal in-system when Diego Sano lofted a great pass from the left side toward Hirt, who flicked it back toward the left side for Klaus Gartner open on the run. Relatively uncontested dribbling down the left side until he got into the box, he slipped his shot just inside the left post to seal the 3-0 result.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian downright dominated the possession from start to finish, out-shooting Paul Quinn by an astounding 19-0 with an 8-0 difference in shots on-goal. The last time MACU held an opponent to without a shot came all the way back on Nov. 5, 2021 when the Evangels came away with a 3-0 win over Central Christian in the SAC Quarterfinal.
• The goals scored by Leonardo Leitao and Klaus Gartner were the first in their Evangel careers as the pair competed in their first matches at MACU.
• Team Captain Elias Hirt finished with three points in the match with a goal and an assist, making it his second career goal with MACU as well as his second career assist, matching his season output from a year ago.
• Another Team Captain in Diego Sano also found himself in the scoresheet with an assist, making it the fifth in his two-year MACU career.
• Freshman goalkeeper Julian Huertas was unchallenged in notching his first career win and shutout as he did not face a shot in the match.
• It was a well-executed victory for Head Coach James Roberson in his first official game at the helm of the program as he stepped into the role after serving as an Assistant Coach for the last seven seasons, including the last two years as the Associate Head Coach.
• With the win, MACU improved to 3-0 all-time against Paul Quinn with their last victory being a 3-0 result back on Sept. 14, 2018 at the Dill.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will have a short turnaround against a strong opponent on Saturday as the Evangels will take on last year's Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Champion Concordia (Neb.) for a 10 am kickoff.