Contact: Elliott Carr, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
Box Score
Oct. 5, 2016 – In a game that saw them accumulate more shots than their opponents, the North Central College men's soccer team were not able to capitalize and were defeated 3-1 by the Elmhurst College Bluejays in a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) matchup.
Despite having 15 shots and 10 shots on goal to Elmhurst's 12 shots and eight shots on goal, North Central were unable to take advantage and secure the victory over the conference rival Bluejays.
The Cardinals started the match showing many positive signs, and finding themselves unlucky not to take an early lead. Just 8:57 into the half, junior forward
Ryan O'Deen shot from fifteen yards out, but his attempt was saved.
Just five minutes later, senior defender
Jon Borzick almost gave the Cardinals the lead, but his header was also saved.
Despite the early pressure put on the Bluejays' defenders, it was the Bluejays who would be first on the scoreboard. Junior midfielder JD Garnett scored thanks to an assist from fellow junior midfielder Alec Gnass, giving the Bluejays a 1-0 lead.
The second half did not get off to the start the Cardinals had hoped for, as sophomore midfielder Austin Larsen scored the Bluejays second goal of the game, off an assist from Garnett.
Junior midfielder Lucas Wetherby would then go on to give Elmhurst a 3-0 lead in the 68
th minute.
Despite the deficit, the Cardinals did not give up and showed that regardless of the score they would continue to practice the right habits and show resilience.
The much-needed breakthrough for the Cardinals finally came in the 70
th minute, when senior midfielder
Chandler Olah scored after the ball was deflected to the middle off the crossbar. Despite their best efforts for the remainder of the game, the margin proved too great to come back from.
That did not stop the Cardinals from trying, as only two minutes later Olah would have two shots saved in the next five minutes, while sophomore forward
Ivan Bohorquez had a shot sail wide in the 74
th minute.
.North Central returns to Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on Saturday October 8 when they host Millikin, with kickoff at 1:00 pm. Live stats can be found
HERE