Mid-America Christian University

OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Men's Soccer team put on a show for its alumni in-attendance against a quality opponent in Concordia (Neb.) as the Evangels cruised to a 5-0 victory at the Dill Soccer Field on Alumni Day.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 5, Concordia 0
  • Mid-America Christian (2-0-0)
  • Concordia (0-2-0)

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – MACU – 30:27 – Goal: CUNE Own Goal – MACU 1, CUNE 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 45:56 – Goal: Filliph Kamfjord (1), Assists: Jimmy Cabrera, Diego Sano – MACU 2, CUNE 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 64:17 – Goal: Gabriel Avellan (1) – MACU 3, CUNE 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 70:42 – Goal: Vito Callaci (1), Assist: Jimmy Cabrera – MACU 4, CUNE 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 85:10 – Goal: Ellis Dunn (1) – MACU 5, CUNE 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian's first great chance of the match came at the top of the ninth minute when Jimmy Cabrera delivered a sensational corner to Ebenezer Boti in the middle of the box as he was able to put a header on, but just sailed it over the crossbar to keep it scoreless.
  • In the 24^th minute, Concordia found itself in deep water when its Team Captain Felipe Silva Mendes was issued a red card for throwing a punch, forcing the Bulldogs to play with only 10-men for 67 minutes.
  • With neither side getting many chances on-frame, it took a sensational effort to cause chaos for the Evangels to score their first goal. In the 31^st minute, Ellis Dunn sent a deep ball into the right side of the box for Filliph Kamfjord, who did a sensational job of keeping the ball from going out the baseline before passing it across the face of the goal. While Elias Hirt was there for the easy punch-in, a CUNE defender stepped in the path to try to stop it, but knocked it into his own goal to make it a 1-0 advantage.
  • The Evangels only had one other solid chance to add to their lead in the 43^rd minute when Ellis Dunn rifled a long shot that pinged off and over the crossbar, keeping it to a 1-0 game going into the half.
• Second Half
  • It didn't take long for the Evangels to find the back of the net to start the second half as just 56 seconds in, Diego Sano crossed it to Jimmy Cabrera, who lofted a perfectly placed deep ball for the run of Kamfjord. Breaking open into the box, the junior forward slipped his shot inside the right post to make it a 2-0 game.
  • In the 65^th minute, Gabriel Avellan took advantage of CUNE's goalkeeper playing too risky, as a failed sliding clearance from well outside the box went straight to Avellan, who took a wide open 35-yard shot that slow rolled into the right side of the open net, extending the edge to 3-0.
  • Five minutes later, Leonardo Leitao came just inches from pushing across the fourth score when his header just barely missed the top right corner. However, MACU got the fourth just a minute later when Cabrera lofted a sensational deep ball down the middle for Vito Callaci, who split the double team in tracking down the ball and slipped his shot inside the right post in the 71^st minute.
  • Dunn finished out the scoring for MACU in the 86^th minute after Klaus Gartner was tripped up in the top right corner of the penalty box out of the break, setting up an Evangels free kick. His pen was perfectly placed with power in the bottom left corner inside the post, wrapping up the 5-0 final.

GAME NOTES

• After being held to just four shots and one shot on-goal in the first half, MACU outpaced the Bulldogs 14-2 in the second half to finish with an 18-3 shot differential with a 9-1 margin in shots on-target.
• Overall, four different Evangels found the back of the net with all four players scoring their first career goals for MACU, including Filliph Kamfjord, Gabriel Avellan, Vito Callaci, and Ellis Dunn.
• Seeing his first action of the season, four-year Evangel Jimmy Cabrera finished with two of the three MACU assists in the match, making it his sixth and seventh career dimes.
• Diego Sano recorded his second-straight game with an assist, moving him into a tie for the team-lead with two to join Cabrera.
• Freshman goalkeeper Julian Huertas notched his second complete game shutout as he made his first career save on the only shot he faced in the match.
• The win for the Evangels was their first against Concordia in their first ever meeting.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will head on the road for the first time this season next week as the Evangels will travel to Hillsboro, Kan. to take on Tabor on Aug. 26. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 pm at Joel H. Wiens Stadium.