Contact: Matthew Eaker, Sports Information Graduate Assistant,
mreaker@noctrl.edu
WHEATON, Ill. (Oct. 5, 2022) - After a two game stretch of non-conference play, the North Central College stormed past the Wheaton College Thunder 3-1 Wednesday night to extend their unbeaten streak to twelve games.
The last time these two teams met was in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament finals where the Cardinals took down the Thunder 1-0 to claim their first Tournament Championship in program history.
North Central (9-0-3, 2-0-0 CCIW) looked to use their recent success to their advantage Wednesday night and in the 13th minute, Aidan Westerberg sent a strike on net but his shot was swallowed up by Jack Krahel. In the 20th minute, the Cardinals offense pressured the Thunder's defense and they seemed to clear it out of the area but their clearing attempt hit a defender and trickled into the back of the net to put the Cardinals up 1-0. Just 48 seconds later, Alessandro D'Argento slipped past the Cardinals defense but his shot to the bottom left corner of the net was handled by Sid Marquardt. In the 26th, Eloi Nyibizi was streaking down the sideline and sent a cross on net that found a diving Jack Fairwood to put the Cardinals up by two. Both offenses would stall and the Cardinals would head into the break with a 2-0 lead.
The Wheaton offense found some life early in the second half as Kyle Johnson had an opportunity to score but his shot was sent out of play, shutting down the scoring attempt. Both defenses would hold strong until the 60th minute when Sam Abreu found Jaziel Enriquez in front of the net to put the Cardinals up 3-0. The Cardinals were looking to add another shutout to their resume this season but Pryse Anderson sent a strike on net that froze Marquardt to cut the Cardinals lead to two. The Wheaton offense would look to add another goal late in the game but Marquardt would handle Brock Seneff's shot to give the Cardinals a 3-1.
The Cardinals outshot Wheaton 12-5 while only allowing three shots on net. Marquardt tallied two saves as he improved his record to 8-0-2 on the season.
The Cardinals are back in action Saturday as they travel up north to Kenosha, Wis. to take on the Carthage College Firebirds at 7:30 pm inside Art Keller Field.
Download the free North Central Cardinals app, available for iOS and Android devices, to receive up to the minute news, scores and updates on your favorite North Central teams. Click HERE for more information.
