Mid-America Christian University

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The Mid-America Christian Men's Soccer team had its chances in the second half at NWC Soccer Complex on Thursday night, but the Evangels were unable to capitalize on its opportunities before suffering a 2-0 defeat against Northwestern.
 
SCORE

• Northwestern 2, Mid-America Christian 0
  • Mid-America Christian (6-1-0)
  • Northwestern (5-0-0)

SCORING SUMMARY

• 2^nd Half – NWC – 58:41 – Goal: Bongkefon Kumla (1); Assists: Emerson Brazones, Rasmus Morrison – NWC 1, MACU 0
• 2^nd Half – NWC – 81:34 – Goal: Tito Linares (1), Assist: Owen Smallfield – NWC 2, MACU 0

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • In the sixth minute, it looked as though Northwestern took the early lead when Juan Miranda's corner found the head of a teammate and into the back of the goal, but the Crusaders were called for the foul for contact with the keeper.
  • NWC had the first dangerous chance of the contest outside of a set piece in the ninth minute when the Crusaders found Daniel Lindahl on the right side of the box, but put the first shot of the game into the right side of the netting for a goal kick.
  • After both teams were held without an opportunity on-goal through the first 20 minutes, Filliph Kamfjord found the loose ball at his feet near the top of the box, but his attempt bounced into the waiting arms of NWC goalkeeper Edoardo Alessandrini to the easy save.
  • In the 33^rd minute, Mid-America Christian had another great chance when the Evangels placed the ball perfectly in the six-yard box, but Leonardo Leitao's leaping flick was low and right to the keeper in Alessandrini to keep it a scoreless game.
  • Mid-America Christian's best chance at the go-ahead came in the 39^th minute when the centering pass found the foot of Daniel Gallagher, but his shot from the top of the box pinged off the right post before being cleared.
  • Neither team had a great chance over the last six minutes of the half as both teams went into the break all square at 0-0.
• Second Half
  • Both teams got a pair of on-target chances through the first six minutes off of corner kicks, however MACU goalkeeper Julian Huertas made his first two saves of the contest in a matter of 30 seconds before Alessandrini tallied two more saves of Elias Hirt's bending corner and Leonardo Leitao's close attempt from the left side.
  • In the 59^th minute, Northwestern took the lead when Rasmus Morrison drove toward the right post and centered for Emerson Brazones, who flipped it over to the left side of the box for the wide open Bongkefen Kumla for the goal, making it a 1-0 NWC lead.
  • With just over 23 minutes to go, Northwestern went down a man when Emerson Brazones made a dangerous tackle over the midfield, which the official issued him a red card for and forcing the Crusaders to play down a man for the rest of the match.
  • Playing up a man, the Evangels did get a slew of chances inside the box from the 70^th to the 75^th minute, starting with Gallagher's first attempt being saved by the keeper before Vito Callaci had a great chance in the 71^st minute that NWC defender Ben Nederpel made a retreating defensive save on. In the 75^th minute, Matias Garcia got a great look from the left side of the box, but his attempt just barely sailed left and over the crossbar.
  • The Crusaders put the nail in the coffin in the 82^nd minute when a misplayed header was rundown by NWC down the right side as Owen Smallfield center it from the right side to the left for Tito Linares, who had a partially deflected shot bounce into the right side of the net to make it a 2-0 advantage.
  • Northwestern was forced to play down two men over the final two minutes when Tito Linares was issued his second yellow card of the match.
  • The Evangels fired on two more chances in that final two-minute stretch, but were unable to find the back of the net as Northwestern preserved the 2-0 result.

GAME NOTES

• Even though Mid-America Christian out-shot Northwestern by an 18-8 margin with a 9-4 edge in shots on-goal, the Crusaders had the more open opportunities, taking advantage of both open looks they got against the MACU defense.
• Not only was it the first game the Evangels conceded a goal in live action, but was also the first match of the season where they conceded two goals after giving up only one through the first six matches of the season.
• Leonardo Leitao led MACU's offensive efforts with five total shots with four landing on-goal.
• Julian Huertas lost his first collegiate game at goalkeeper, falling to 6-1 on the year after allowing two goals and making a pair of saves.
• Mid-America Christian came into the contest without two key pieces as one of its top strikers in Haruya Higuchi and senior center-back Necsar Rojas were unable to compete in the match.
• The match was the first ever meeting between the two programs.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be seeking to bounce back on Saturday as it will head to Sioux Center, Iowa to take on Dordt for a 1 p.m. kickoff at the DU Soccer Complex.