Contact: Elliott Carr, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
 
Box Score

Naperville, Ill. (Oct. 18, 2015) – Despite a high level of play as of late, the North Central College men's soccer team were defeated 3-1 by the University of California, Santa Cruz Banana Slugs on Sunday, at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

The Banana Slugs first goal came in the fifth minute, and saw  junior Rodrigo Diaz-Valdes score off a header, thanks to an assist from senior Mikhail Thule.

The Cardinals played them to a stalemate for the remainder of the half, but came out of halftime and were able to score in the 48^th minute. Sophomore Karl Bappert scored his third goal of the season from the center of the goal box, thanks to a cross from the left side of the field from sophomore Ryan O'Deen.

Despite the strong start to the half, freshman Jacob Myers Norys would score in the 78^th minute for the Banana Slugs, followed by Rodrigo Diaz-Valdes scoring his second goal in the 82^nd minute.

Despite the setback, the Cardinals are still 2-1 in conference and sitting at the upper end of the standings. Making the conference tournament is still very much a possibility, as the Cardinals could shortly move to 3-1 and progress further in the CCIW.

The Cardinals next home game is against Augustana College in a CCIW matchup at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 21st, with game time at 8:00 pm. Live stats and video can be found at the following link.