Contact: Anna Fox, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, amfox@noctrl.edu

Sept. 23, 2023 - With beautiful weather at Benedetti Wehrli Stadium, the North Central College men's soccer team dominated Elmhurst University in a 4-0 shutout to start conference play.

The Cardinals were up on the Bluejays early in the first half. North Central's Aidan Westerberg took a corner kick for the Cardinals, putting the ball to the front of the Elmhurst net. While the Cardinals held position in front of the Elmhurst net, Westerberg again with the ball passed to Tommaso Polidori. Polidori found himself with enough space firing the ball past Bluejays' goalkeeper Aaron The.

Two minutes later, the Bluejays pulled The from the net and substituted Niyen Ruffin in goal. In the 32nd minute of the game, Bluejays' Alan Lopez fired the ball to the bottom left corner of the Cardinal net where Riley Johnson was able to make the stop.

Next it was North Central's Eloi Nyibizi who took a shot on Ruffin, but Ruffin was able to bat the ball away. Back and forth possessions of the ball between the two institutions led to a stalemate the rest of the half.

Elmhurst started the second half off 15 seconds in with a shot by Illija Jerinic but was scooped up by Johnson. But five minutes later Matteo Innocenti capitalized on open space from the Bluejays' defender and found the back of the net. The Cardinals rolled with momentum the rest of the game.

In the 74th minute Jack Fairwood took the ball down the field and found space to pass the ball to Jack Bonavia who was in front of the net. Bonavia took the ball off the pass and fired a shot into the back of the net.

After three off-target shots by North Central, the Cardinals sealed the deal in the 84th minute when Davis Nelson passed the ball to Tyler Dawson on the left side of the field. Dawson dribbled the ball closer to the net and shot the ball to the top left out of Ruffin's reach.

North Central is now 8-1 on the season with their only loss coming from No. ranked Carleton College.

The Cardinals host Aurora University for a non-conference match up on Monday evening at 7 p.m. inside Benedetti Wehrli Stadium.

Download the free North Central Cardinals app 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.