Contact: Matthew Eaker, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, mreaker@noctrl.edu

Nov. 2, 2022 - Playing in their sixth consecutive College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament Semifinals game, the North Central College men's soccer team took down the Carthage College Firebirds 1-0 to advance to the CCIW Tournament Championship.  

The tenth-ranked Cardinals (15-0-4) were looking to advance to their second consecutive CCIW Championship game and in the seventh minute, Jack Fairwood was one on one with goalkeeper Tino Korhonen but his chip shot hit the left cross bar, shutting down the Cardinals scoring attempt. Both offenses were at a standstill until Fairwood found a streaking Matteo Innocenti who sent a strike past Korhonen to put the Cardinals up 1-0 in the 17th minute. In the 25th minute, Mickey Reilly of Carthage found a hole in the Cardinal defense and sent a strike on net but it struck the left post, eliminating the Firebird attack. The Firebirds offense kept the pressure on as Trevor Molitor sent a shot to the lower left corner but his shot was swallowed up by goalkeeper Sid Marquardt. The Cardinal offense responded as Aidan Westerberg and Jaziel Enriquez both sent shots on net in the 33rd minute but both were saved by Korhonen. The first half would end with a Luis Garduno off target shot and the Cardinals would head into the break with a one goal lead. 

The Cardinals were looking to add another goal in the second half and in the 59th minute, Innocenti sent a shot on net but Korhonen was there to shut down the Cardinals offense. Just 20 seconds later, Jack Georgi of Carthage sent a shot to the top of the net but Marquardt was there to shut down the Firebirds scoring attempt. Both defenses held strong and didn't allow much offensive movement late in the second half until the 87th minute where Eloi Nyibizi was all alone with just the goalkeeper to beat but his shot went wide right. The Firebird offense came alive in the last few minutes of the game and in the 89th minute, Trevor Molitor had an opportunity to score but his shot went wide left, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 win. 

The Cardinals outshot the Firebirds 17-11 with six of those shots being on net. Marqaurdt tallied three saves in the contest as he improved to 14-0-3 on the season while picking up his seventh shutout of the season. 

The Cardinals will host North Park University in the CCIW Tournament Championship game on Saturday, Nov. 5 inside Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium with a game time TBA. 

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