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

Box Score

Oct. 29, 2016 – In a game that saw them give their all to the very end, the North Central College men's soccer team suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss to Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday night, at Neis Field.

Sophomore defender Jared Collier almost opened the scoring for the Cardinals in the 9^th minute, but his header was saved. Ever reliable senior midfielder Chandler Olah was also unlucky not to give the Cardinals an early lead in the 9^th minute, when he sent a ball just high of the crossbar.

Given his sizzling form over the second half of the season, it was also unlucky that freshman forward Alexis Flores didn't score when he shot in the 27^th minute, as his shot was saved.

In the 31^st minute John Kissel, also a major offensive threat for the Cardinals, missed just wide right, seeing the game go into halftime 0-0.

The beginning of the second half went according to plan for North Central, with Olah capitalizing on a penalty kick to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the 50^th minute.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Titans bounced back just two minutes later, when junior defender Collen Frost scored to even the scores 1-1.

Flores again came close to scoring and giving the Cardinals the lead in the 61^st minute, however his shot missed wide to the left. In the dying minutes of the game, sophomore forward Teddy Trifunovski almost sealed the game for North Central, but his shot was blocked and the game was sent into overtime.

It was in the 99^th minute that the outcome of the match was decided, when senior midfielder Dino Karas scored, sealing the game for the Titans despite the Cardinals best efforts.

While the final outcome did not go their way, North Central can hold their heads high, knowing they maintained a positive and unselfish attitude throughout the early season adversity and difficult non-conference schedule to come painstakingly close to securing themselves a CCIW tournament big.