Contact: Ben Nordman, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Box Score

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Sept. 26, 2018) - Coming off a tough game against Millikin University over the weekend, the North Central College men's soccer team fought hard and prevailed against Wheaton College on Wednesday, pulling out a 2-1 victory.

The physical game started off fast for the Cardinals, when in the fifth minute of the game Ryan Powers passed the ball up the right sideline to Alexis Flores, who then dribbled around Wheaton (5-3-1 (0-1 CCIW)) defenders, drew the keeper away from the net, and found a streaking Gavin Sanchez across the box. Sanchez fired it into an empty net to put the Cardinals on the board.

North Central's defense shone throughout the game, stopping each attack the Wheaton offense had to offer in the first half. The Thunder were limited to only five shots in the first 45 minutes of play, with none of them being on goal.

Early in the second half, though, a Wheaton free kick by Andrew Wade found Chase Gwynn in the back of the Cardinal's defense. Gwynn put a header in the upper left corner of the goal, just past defenders and goalie Marco Soto for Wheaton's only goal in the game.

Another 30 minutes of game time went by before the stalemate was broken again. A cross by Andreas Raaen was taken by Alexis Flores, who then took a shot. The shot looked wide but teammate Elmer Eng was there to redirect the ball in the net for another Cardinals goal.

With Wheaton getting desperate for a goal in the last ten minutes in the game, the Cardinal's defense did not break, holding off a furious Thunder attack to keep the score 2-1.

For Sanchez, it was his second goal on the season, with Eng adding his first on the year. Flores recorded his first two assists on the season, bringing his total point total to 12. Powers added his third assist on the season while goalie Marco Soto saved three shots, bringing his new save total to 25.

This win marks the second time in 28 years that the Cardinals have taken down the Thunder, with their last win coming in the 2015 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) tournament.

The Cardinals (5-3 (1-1 CCIW)) take a break from CCIW play, traveling to Illinois Institute of Technology on Saturday, Sept. 29. They return to conference play Wednesday, Oct. 3 against Illinois Wesleyan University.