OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 5, 2019) – Goalkeeper Anthony Trabichet and forward Thomas van der Meulen both were in the right place at the right time for Oklahoma Christian on Thursday night against Southern Nazarene.

Van der Meulen scored on a first-half rebound shot and Trabichet made that lead stand up making seven saves – a couple of the brilliant variety – to lead the Eagles to a 1-0 win over their archrival in the season opener for both men's teams at the Eagle Soccer Field.

SNU is OC's longest-standing opponent, as the Crimson Storm and Eagles have played in all but two years since OC began its men's program in 1986. In the NCAA Division II era (which started in 2012) the series has trended OC's way, with the Eagles winning the last three meetings and holding a 4-2 advantage.

"One of the things we talked about before the game was the rivalry and the history between the two schools and the importance of winning the game against a local team," OC coach David Scott said. "I thought the guys came out and played really well tonight. I'm happy with their performance."

This year's game was tight throughout, as the stats indicated. SNU outshot OC by a 12-10 margin and committed 16 fouls to OC's 14. OC had four corner kicks to SNU's three and SNU posted a narrow 51-to-49-percent advantage in possession.

OC missed a golden chance to take the lead in the first five minutes, when Carlos Trapero fired high over an open goal after SNU goalkeeper Bence Mocsari had to come out to defend. But Trapero redeemed himself in the 28th minute, earning himself a strong shot in the penalty box that Mocsari was able only to parry but not to secure.

Van der Meulen, a freshman from Grou, Netherlands, was there to collect the rebound and tap it into the goal to put OC ahead. It was his third goal in four career games for OC, as he had two last season before his campaign ended prematurely due to injury.

Trabichet, a sophomore from Thonon-les-Baines, France, who earned All-Heartland Conference honors last season, made sure that goal would be enough. He made a diving parry to stop one SNU shot in the first half and in the 67th minute, he ranged off his goal line to make a sliding foot save on a shot by Guy Esquivel on a breakaway.

"I felt defensively, in the second half, we did a really good job in limiting the number of chances they got," Scott said. "Several of (Trabichet's) saves were fairly routine, but he had the big save in the first half off of the header and the breakaway in the second half was a big save, off the misplay in the back on the turnover. He covered the ground and the space behind our back four all night, really well."

OC will host another Great American Conference foe, Oklahoma Baptist, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

David Scott discusses the win: https://youtu.be/uIA587D8ZTs