Contact: Matthew Eaker, Sports Information Graduate Assistant,
mreaker@noctrl.edu
Oct. 22, 2022 - The North Central College men's soccer team kept their unbeaten streak alive as they held off the Illinois Wesleyan University Titans for a 3-2 win on a beautiful afternoon inside Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
The Cardinals (13-0-4, 6-0-1 CCIW) looked to stay on top of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) with a win over the Titans. The Cardinals came out firing early as Matteo Innocenti and Aidan Westerberg took the first two shots of the game but both were blocked by the Titan defense. After clearing the ball from their own zone, Jacopo De Collibus sent a pass down the field that found a streaking Eloi Nyibizi who put one past Sam Kedzior to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute. The Cardinals would strike again as Edoardo Bonifacio finished off a Innocenti pass to give the Cardinals a two goal lead. The game was at a standstill until the 34th minute when Gavin Smith picked off a Sid Marquardt pass and slipped one past Marquardt to cut the Cardinal lead to one. The first half would end with a Marquardt save and the Cardinals would head into the break up 2-1.
The Titans struck first in the second half as Logan Shumaker finished off a Gavin Smith cross to tie the game up two. Both defenses held strong but the Cardinals had an opportunity to score in the 68th minute. After a Titans foul, Sam Abreu lined up for a free kick just outside the box and found Bonifacio wide open on the backside of the net who put one past Kedzior to regain the Cardinals lead. The Cardinals looked to add an insurance goal late in the second half as Nyibizi slipped around the Titans defenders and sent a strike to the top left corner but his shot was stopped by Kedzior and the Cardinals took home a 3-2 win over the visiting Titans.
The Cardinals and Titans played a very physical match as there were 36 fouls, 25 of those fouls were in the second half alone. Marquardt tallied two saves in the contest as his record improved to 11-0-3 on the season. The Cardinals remain on top of the CCIW as they are 6-0-1 in conference play this season, they also have extended their unbeaten streak to 17 games this season.
The Cardinals will celebrate their seven senior members on Wednesday night prior to their final regular season matchup against CCIW foe Augustana College at 7:30 pm inside Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
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