Contact: Anna Fox, Sports Information Graduate Assistant
 
Sept. 10, 2023 - The North Central men's soccer team took advantage of the beautiful end of summer weather, defeating Rose Hulman Institute of Technology Engineers with ease in a 5-0 win. 
 
The Cardinals offense completely dominated the entirety of the game. The Engineers were in trouble from the beginning when one of their players received a yellow card in the 11th minute of the game, giving the Cardinals a penalty kick. Sophomore, Matteo Innocenti stepped up to take the kick and hammer a shot past John Biederstedt. Three minutes later Innocenti got another shot on goal straight down the middle, but this time Bierderstedt was prepared, stopping the shot before it went in. Jack Fairwood was the next Cardinal to get a shot off but was just off target and the ball went over the crossbar. In the 22nd minute, Peter Kimba took a pass from Humberto Jaimes, and found himself wide open, scoring the Cardinals second goal of the day. The Engineers made almost a full line up substitution with 15 minutes left in the half but were not able to create any momentum. 
 
The second half of the game continued to be all Cardinals. Ten minutes into the second half, Aidan Westerberg took a shot on the Engineers but was stopped by Biederstedt. The Cardinals took on two corner kicks but were not able to complete the play, up until a scramble in the 58th minute. The scramble of both teams took place in front of the Engineers net where Jacopo De Collibus was able to stuff a shot into the goal through the chaos. De Collibus attempted another shot in the 61st minute but was off target. However, four minutes later De Collibus delivered another shot on goal, off of a pass from Eloi Nyibizi, this time making it past the Engineers goalkeeper. With the Cardinals up 4-0 there was not much the Engineers could do except try and shut the Cardinals offense down for the rest of the game. The Cardinals offense was no match for the Engineers, Jared Urueta took a shot to the bottom center of the net but was stopped by Biederstedt. Three minutes later, the Cardinals offense came back to the Engineers goal to finish off the game. Riccardo Piller took a pass from Innocenti and fired the ball into the back of the net.  
 
Riley Johnson tallied his second shutout and fifth win of the season. Johnson has only allowed three goals this season. The rest of the defense worked equally hard allowing no shots on goal. 
 
The Cardinals return to play on Friday, Sept. 15th when they host #13 Ohio Northern University. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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