Contact: Anna Fox, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, amfox@noctrl.edu
 
Oct. 30, 2024 - In their final contest of the regular season, the North Central College men's soccer team took down the Wheaton College Thunder 2-0 inside Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
 
The Thunders offense had an opportunity to take an early lead in the 14th minute, but goalkeeper Daniel Szalai controlled Grant Roney's strike to keep the game scoreless. North Central's offense didn't take long to capitalize as J.P. Saux finished off a pass from Hector Huerta to put the Cardinals up 1-0 just 21 minutes into the game. North Central continued to control the tempo, recording three more shots on goal before the end of the first half.
 
In the second half, the Cardinals were looking to score to put the game out of reach, and in the 88th minute, Urueta broke down the Thunder's defense. Freshman Aiden Maloney found space from his defender to connect with Urueta. From around the penalty arch, Urueta fired a shot at the Thunder net, and with so much traffic in front of the net, Mason Escalante didn't stand a chance. North Central's defense and goalkeeper, Szalai, kept the Thunder from scoring the rest of the way to secure the 2-0 victory.
 
North Central outshot Wheaton 14-10 with six shots on goal, while the Thunder recorded only three. Szalai tallied three saves as he improved his record to 4-2 on the season. The Cardinals improved to 8-5-4 on the season with a 4-3-1 in league play. Wheaton falls to 10-6-1 with a 6-2 record in conference play.
 
The Cardinals will begin CCIW Tournament play Saturday, Nov. 2, when they take on Millikin University at 12 p.m. at Frank M. Lindsay Field in Decatur, Ill. Click HERE for more information.
 
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