Contact: Anna Fox, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, amfox@noctrl.edu
 
October 7, 2023 - The North Central College men's soccer team tallied their second College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin win of the season by an offensive surge from the Cardinals.
 
Matteo Innocenti struck first for the Cardinals in the 15th minute of the game from a shot on the left side of the goal. Innocenti tried to tally another goal in the 22nd minute of the game but was denied by Firebirds goalkeeper Thomas Howard IV.
 
Strong defense on both sides of the field allowed no shots on goal till the 38th minute. With the ball in the Cardinals end and the Firebirds putting pressure on North Central, they looked to pass the ball back to Cardinals goalkeeper Sid Marquardt. An off-target pass to Marquardt by one of the Cardinals players resulted in the ball sliding into the Cardinal goal, tying the game and closing out the second half.
 
The Cardinals came back in the second half fired up and ready to go. In the 46th minute, Tommaso Polidori took a shot but was blocked by the Carthage defenders. The ball took a bounce off the defenders and made its way to Jack Fairwood. Fairwood fired a shot into the back of the net and out of Howard IV's reach.
 
Two minutes later North Central struck again. This time it was Aidan Westerberg who traveled up the far side of the field with the ball and passed it to Pepijn Hakstege. Hakstege shot the ball into the left side of the goal, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.
 
In the 51st minute of the game, the Firebirds drew a foul through physical play, giving the Cardinals a penalty kick. Edoardo Bonifacio took the kick for North Central and fired the ball to the top left corner of the net.
 
Four minutes later, Polidori, with pressure on him from Firebirds defenders passed the ball back to Marquardt. The pass took a weird bound off of Marquardt's foot and the ball rolled back into the Cardinal net.
 
In the 65th minute, Fairwood took a shot on goal that was blocked by a defender, the block bounced off and found Eloi Nyibizi. Nyibizi fired a shot off the bounce only for it to be blocked by another defender. Once again, the ball bounced off the defender and made its way to Tyler Dawson. Dawson, on the left side of the field, fired the ball into the back of the net.
 
The Cardinals were not done yet. In the 80th minute, Will Mayer pass the ball from one side of the field to Westerberg on the other side. Westerberg found room for himself, sending the ball into the back of the net, giving the Cardinals a 6-2 lead.
 
The Cardinals finished off the Firebirds with a goal in the 88th minute by Mayer, who sent the ball into the back of the net from the right side. 
 
The All-American goalkeeper, Marquardt made his first appearance in net this season after battling with an injury. He faced two shots on goal throughout all 90 minutes of play.
 
Marquardt and the Cardinals will travel to Chicago, Ill. to take on CCIW conference leader North Park on Wednesday, October 11 at 7 p.m.
 
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