Contact: Tyler Friel, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
Box Score
Oct. 1, 2016 – Beginning College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin play against one of the best in the conference, the North Central College men's soccer team fell 2-1 against Carthage College Saturday afternoon at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
The Red Men came out on the attack in the first half, logging nine shots to North Central's five. However, it was the Cardinals who were more efficient in their shots, logging three to Carthage's two. The Cardinals best opportunity came at the very end of the first half as
Steven Abalos fired a shot from the left side, only for a Red Man to step in front and block the attempt. After 45 minutes of play, the score would knotted at zero.
The Cardinals were not going to back down in the second half despite facing a ranked opponent. Twelve minutes into the half,
Chandler Olah lobbed a perfect pass to
Ivan Bohorquez who laid out full extension to try for the header to take the lead. Unfortunately, the Carthage goalie made an incredible stop to keep the Cardinals off the board. North Central would not be denied however as Olah took a free kick from 30 yards out and found the top right corner of the goal to take a 1-0 lead in the 65
th minute.
Perhaps the most pivotal moment came roughly two minutes later as Carthage was awarded a penalty kick. Austin Bitta would take the PK for the Red Men but
Sebastian Garcia stepped up for a huge save to keep the Cardinals ahead. However, with 5:13 remaining on the clock, Bitta took a corner kick and the shot bounced off a Cardinal and into their own net, tying the score at one. This one would head into overtime tied at one.
The teams traded shots and fouls the majority of the first overtime until Bitta was able to lob the ball past the outstretched reach of Garcia in the 99
th minute, giving Carthage the overtime victory.
The Cardinals (2-6-1, 0-1 CCIW) showed their ability to compete with the best in conference and look to make some noise the rest of the way.
North Central travels to Elmhurst College on October 5, with game time slated for 7:30 pm. Live stats can be found
HERE