Contact: Anna Fox, Sports Information Graduate Assistant
 
Sept. 5, 2023 - The North Central men's soccer team defeated Benedictine University in a swift 3-1 win on Tuesday night. 
 
The game was a battle right from the start of the game. After several fouls from the Eagles, the Cardinals were given a penalty kick in the 15th minute where Matteo Innocenti sent the ball flying past Mateo Reyes. Not long after it was the Cardinals who got in some foul trouble and the Eagles took the momentum. In the 20th minute, Benedictine's Nick Soto passed Cael Cummings the ball, who fired it passed Cardinals goalkeeper, Riley Johnson, and tied the game. The two teams fought for the ball for several minutes, until the 40th minute when Eduardo Bonifacio was fouled in front of the net and drew a free kick for the Cardinals. Innocenti took the free kick for North Central and sent it to the top left corner of the net for his second goal of the night. The last four minutes of the half belonged to North Central. Bonifacio shot one low in the center of the net but was just barely stopped by Reyes in the 42nd minute. One minute later the Cardinals took a corner kick and sent the ball to the front of the net, resulting in a scramble. Eloi Nyibizi came up with the ball and took a shot that was blocked by an Eagles defender. The ball bounced off the defender right to Ty Konrad, who fired the ball into the back of the net and sent the Cardinals into halftime up 3-1. 
 
In the second half of the game, both teams pushed the pace of the ball. North Central was given a yellow card in the 47th minute and the Eagles' Soto took advantage, sending the ball to the center of the net, but it was no match for Johnson who made the stop. Cardinals Herman Hesby and Jacopo De Collibus both had good chances but could not quite get the ball on target. Tommaso Polidori fired a shot at Reyes in the 72nd minute, but Reyes was able to get a handle on the ball and make the stop. Ten minutes later, Aidan Westerberg looked to finish the game off with one final chance for the Cardinals. He sent the ball soaring to the bottom left of the net, but Reyes was able to make one final stop. 
 
With a 3-1 win over Benedictine, North Central moves to 3-0 on the season. The Cardinals will take on Trine University, at home, on Friday night (Sept. 8th) at 7:30 p.m.

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