OKC Standard

The No. 2 Mid-America Christian men's soccer team will compete for the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship for a third straight year as Ricardo Ferreira headed in the game-winning goal in the 87th minute to send the Evangels to a 1-0 SAC Semifinal victory over fourth-seed John Brown at the Dill Soccer Field on Tuesday night.

 

SCORING SUMMARY

• 2nd Half – MACU – 86:16 – Goal: Ricardo Ferreira (11), Assist: Rodrigo Ferreira – MACU 1, JBU 0

MATCH SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian had the first great chance in the match in the seventh minute when SAC Player of the Year Mason Gonzalez placed a phenomenal right side aerial cross from the right base line to the middle of the box, but Ricardo Ferreira couldn't quite get much power behind an open header as the ball one-hopped to JBU goalkeeper Kyle Hix for the easy save.
• Two minutes later, John Brown had a golden opportunity to take the lead when Oscar Carballo from the right side of the right post crossed it for Alejandro Ramirez diving toward the left post, but his header shot sailed wide left to keep it scoreless.
• JBU's first opportunity on-goal came in the 23rd minute off the foot of Erick Diaz from the left side after juking by a defender, but Abonnel came up with the easy snare on the save to keep the Golden Eagles off the board.
• Abonnel came up with another save in the 26th minute when a MACU turnover led to a quick JBU counter, but Diaz rushed another shot from range as Abonnel trapped the low liner from 23-yards out at his feet.
• MACU had the only other shot on-frame for the rest of the half as Georg Westerlund rifled a 22-yarder toward the right post that glanced off the hands of Hix on the dive and out for an Evangels corner. The two squads went into the half with a 0-0 deadlock.
• John Brown's best opportunity in the second half came in the 57th minute after a JBU goal kick bounced off the head of a MACU defender and back toward the left side of the 18-yard box. Diaz tracked down the loose ball and launched a powerful shot toward the left post that glanced off the hands of Abonnel and off the post to keep it deadlocked.
• With neither team getting many chances over the next 30 minutes, Mid-America Christian made the only shot on-goal in the last 33 minutes count. After Rodrigo Ferreira was shoved in the back by Oscar Carballo on a JBU clearance ball, Ferreira sent a free kick from 40-yards out toward the left side of the box for his brother Ricardo Ferreira, as the sophomore striker re-directed a header toward the left post from 14-yards out to secure the 1-nil advantage.
• Neither team would be able to force another attempt for the rest of the contest as Mid-America Christian came away with the victory.

MATCH NOTES

• Facing an extremely potent John Brown offense, Mid-America Christian held the Golden Eagles to a season-low five shots, three of which were on-goal while MACU attempted 13 attempts, but were only able to put three on-target.
• Ricardo Ferreira drew even with Rodrigo Albuquerque for the team-lead in goals with his 11th of the season. Ferreira led the offensive efforts as well with three total shots with two on-target.
• By netting his fifth game-winner, Ferreira moved into a tie for third with Rodrigo Albuquerque (2021) and Raphael Bonelle (2013) for the third-most winners in a single-season in the history of the program. Ferreira also climbed up another record book as his 18th career goal moved him into a tie for fifth on the career goal scoring list alongside teammate Luan Cesar (2020-) and Pero Mikulic (2019-20).
• The assist from Rodrigo Ferreira was his third of the season and the 14th of his MACU career, moving him into a tie with Caleb Roldan (2016-19) for the fifth-most career assists in program history.
• After making a trio of saves, Jeremi Abonnel earned his 12th shutout of the season, moving him just one back of tying Austen Parker's (2019) single-season record.
• With the win, Mid-America Christian has now won seven straight matches against John Brown since the 2018 season.
• The Evangels will be advancing to their third straight SAC title match. MACU defeated John Brown 5-0 in the semifinal last season to advance to the title tilt and topped Science & Arts 3-1 to advance to the championship game during the 2020-21 championship run.

Original source can be found here