WATERTOWN, Wis. -- A late missile from Pedro Ribeiro was enough to secure a 1-1 tie this afternoon, as Maranatha battled right down to the final minute against Lawrence University.

With the tie, the Sabercats move to 6-3-2 for the regular season and will look to get back into the win column on Friday with an away trip to Andrews University.
 

PEDRO RIBEIRO STOP THAT! ?? ??

Ties the game from almost 30 yards away!! pic.twitter.com/K0TPGXl1Xg

— Maranatha Athletics (@MBUSabercats) October 14, 2025

• Result: Maranatha 1-1 Lawrence
• Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: 91
• Record: MBU (6-3-2), LC (0-8-4)

STORY

The Vikings were the more dangerous team early on, seeing numerous chances go begging in the opening exchanges. The visitors' pressure finally paid off in the 21st minute when they capitalized on a sloppy pass from the Sabercats' back line and buried the ensuing shot to make it 1-0.

The Vikings made the Sabercats even more nervous a few minutes later, but a shot that ricocheted of the underside of the crossbar was deemed no goal by the officials and the game remained 1-0.

At the other end of the field, the Sabercats struggled to create a solid goal-scoring opportunity, and they had to rely on the safe hands of Joe Shank to make a couple of saves to keep the Sabercats in it.

Coming out of the break, the momentum shifted back to the Sabercats, who threatened the Lawrence goal right from the get-go. Robbie Lemon broke behind the Viking defense and forced a surprising diving save from the goalkeeper, and the Sabercats were on the front foot. 

The pressure paid off in the 77th minute, when Ribeiro scored a goal to remember. The sophomore collected a driving pass from Joseph Greene, cut to his right to get around a couple of Viking defenders, and fired an unstoppable strike across the goalkeeper and into the top-left corner. In unforgettable fashion, the Sabercats were level.

From there, both teams had chances to win the game in the dying minutes. A couple of fingertip saves from Shank kept the Sabercats from dropping the points on their home field.
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Maranatha Starters: 1- Shank, 5- Jones (C), 6- Johnson, 7- Lemon, 8- M. Ribeiro, 10- P. Ribeiro, 11- Ca. Beachell (C), 12- Greene (C), 13- Donovan, 14- Cl. Beachell, 19- Miller

STATS

• Shot count: Maranatha 12-15 Lawrence
• Shank: 7 saves on the day
• Ribeiro: now leads the Sabercats with 4 goals this season
• Last time: Lawrence won 4-2 in the 2019 season
• Series: Lawrence leads the all-time series 4-1-1

OPPONENTS

• Lawrence competes in the Midwest Conference (NCAA Dlll)
• Lawrence almost beat the Midwest Conference leaders, Lake Forest, last Tuesday

NEXT

The Sabercats travel to Berrien Springs, Michigan, for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on Friday. Follow along at mbusabercats.com/schedule.