Mid-America Christian University

OKLAHOMA CITY – Junior midfielder Leonardo Leitao notched the MACU Men's Soccer team's first hat trick since 2022 as the Evangels ran away with a 5-0 win over Central Christian on Futbol Fiesta Night at the Dill Soccer Field on Monday night.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 5, Central Christian 0
  • Mid-America Christian (9-1-1, 2-0-0 SAC)
  • Central Christian (3-5-1, 0-2-0 SAC)

SCORING SUMMARY

• 1^st Half – MACU – 27:12 – Goal: Matias Garcia (2), Assist: Jimmy Cabrera – MACU 1, CCCK 0
• 1^st Half – MACU – 31:22 – Goal: Leonardo Leitao (4), Assist: Daniel Gallagher – MACU 2, CCCK 0
• 1^st Half – MACU – 41:11 – Goal: Haruya Higuchi (2), Assists: Daniel Gallagher, Elias Hirt – MACU 3, CCCK 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 57:09 – Goal: Leonardo Leitao (5), Assist: Filliph Kamfjord – MACU 4, CCCK 0
• 2^nd Half – MACU – 61:34 – Goal: Leonardo Leitao (6), Assist: Jimmy Cabrera – MACU 5, CCCK 0

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Both teams struggled to generate much offense through the first 27 minutes of the contest as Mid-America Christian attempted the first five shots, getting a pair on-frame from Vito Callaci and Ben Rojas in the 19^th and 24^th minutes, but both shots were stopped by CCCK goalkeeper Martin Restrepo.
  • In the 28^th minute, the Evangels finally broke through off a sensational buildup. After Filliph Kamfjord delivered a stellar through ball to Jimmy Cabrera breaking down the left side and into the box. After tracking down the pass. He cut back and delivered a ball back to Matias Garcia, who took a one cut and strong strike toward the right side that deflected off a Tigers defender and past the keeper, setting the score to 1-0.
  • Four minutes later, MACU found a second. After Daniel Gallagher received a pass near midfield on the right side, he dribbled hard down the field around and through five defenders. Despite being tripped in the box with no foul call, his tapper forward was picked up by Leonardo Leitao, who slipped a close shot by the keeper on the left-side of the six-yard box and into the back of the net. The score extended the MACU advantage to 2-0 with 13:39 remaining in the half.
  • After missing the last four games due to injury, senior striker Haruya Higuchi made his welcome back to the pitch a good one following a sensational bit of passing. With just under four minutes left in the half, Eddie Hemmington made a strong tackle on the Tigers midfielder on the goalie trying to play it short, allowing Elias Hirt to swoop in to corral the loose ball. Finding Daniel Gallagher open on the right side of the box, he immediate sent a cross to a wide-open Higuchi on the left-side of the six-yard box, tapping it in for the third goal of the match and sending the Evangels into the break with the 3-0 advantage.
• Second Half
  • Mid-America Christian came out in the second half with the same amount of energy it went in with, peppering the Tigers with seven shots through the first 10 minutes, but were unable to find a fourth in that time frame.
  • In the 58^th minute, the Evangels did finally stretch their lead to fourth on yet another sensational strike from Leitao. After Ebenezer Boti chipped a ball ahead to Filliph Kamfjord in the midfield, he launched a sensational deep ball to Leitao breaking down the right side. Making an immediate cut toward the top of the 18-yard box, he blasted a strong strike into the top left part of the goal for his second of the match, making it a 4-0 contest.
  • While Leitao missed his chance at tallying the hat trick just 42 seconds later on a saved try, he got his third goal in the 62^nd minute. After a perfectly executed give-and-go between Cabrera and Leitao on the right side of the box, Cabrera made a sensational heel flick back to the breaking midfielder, who slipped a slow-roller into the bottom left corner of the net to wrap-up the scoring at 5-0.
  • Even though the Evangels continued to pepper shots with many of its reserves in, MACU wasn't quite able to add a sixth as it easily secured the 5-nil result.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian downright dominated on both ends of the field as the Evangels finished the contest with 30 shot attempts, placing 14 on-goal while Central Christian could only muster three off-target shots in the match.
• The last time the Evangels attempted 30 shots in a match came all the way back on Sept. 14, 2023 in a 2-1 win over Arizona Christian. That contest was also the last time MACU had a plus-27 or more shot differential with the Evangels finishing that contest with 34 shot attempts while the Firestorm attempted just six for a plus-28 separation.
• The previous time MACU put 14 or more shots on-frame came back in 2022 when the Evangels tallied 15 and 14 placed on-target in back-to-back matches at Southwestern Assemblies of God (Nelson) on Oct. 4 and then at Texas Wesleyan on Oct. 8.
• The Evangels also accomplished another feat that hadn't happened since 2022 when Leonardo Leitao notched just the 14^th hat trick since the program moved to the NAIA level in 2008 and was the first to record a hat trick since MACU's all-time leading scorer Rodrigo Albuquerque netted a trio in MACU's win at SAGU on Oct. 4. Those three scores came on six shots, all of which were on-target while Filliph Kamfjord tallied five shots with two on-goal.
• The two other goals in the contest came from both Matias Garcia, who notched his second of the season and his second game-winner to move into a tie for the team-lead while Haruya Higuch tallied his second of the campaign as well.
• Jimmy Cabrera and Daniel Gallagher each finished the contests with a pair of assists each as Cabrera extended his team-lead to six while Gallagher now has three dimes on the season.
• Kamfjord's assist marked his second of the season for his 12^th point while Elias Hirt's dime placed him on second on the squad in 2026 with his fourth.
• Making his first start in-goal, junior keeper Leonardo Martinelli did not face a shot the entire night while junior Brandon McDaniel also made his varsity debut for the Evangels in-goal in relief, also not facing a shot in the last 11 minutes.
• The Evangels could not be off to a better start in Sooner Athletic Conference play as MACU owns a 9-to-1 goal differential through its first two league matches of the season.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now prepare to face a big time rival on Saturday night as the Evangels host crosstown foe Southwestern Christian for a 7:30 pm kickoff at the Dill Soccer Field.