Contact: Sam Fretto, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, sjfretto@noctrl.edu
KENOSHA, Wis. (Oct. 18, 2025)- Two early goals by the North Central College men's soccer team proved not to be enough to put away the Carthage College Firebirds in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) action on Saturday at Art Keller Field in Kenosha. After 90 minutes of play, the Cardinals (7-1-6, 3-0-2 CCIW) and Firebirds (1-8-3, 0-3-2 CCIW) ended in a 2-2 standoff.
North Central took a 1-0 lead in the early stages of the match, as Will Mayer scored his second goal this season. At the 8:46 mark in the first half, Aleks Duncevic received a throw-in in the offensive zone and played a through ball to Morgan Kurseth. Kurseth touched the ball to Mayer, and he fired to the right post for the goal. Duncveic and Kurseth were credited with the assist for Mayer's goal.
A misplay by the Firebirds in their own defensive zone allowed Joseph Sargent to recover the loose ball, take it past Carthage's back line, and score at the far post, giving North Central a 2-0 advantage in the 13th minute. Sargent's goal puts him at 12 this season, tied for the most in the conference.
Facing a 2-0 deficit, Carthage fought back in the late moments of the first half and got on the board with under three minutes to go. North Central's backline was caught playing up, which allowed a crosser to get by the Cardinals' defense, and Emmitt Hansen jumped up for the header to respond and make it 2-1.
The second half got underway with a scoring opportunity three minutes in by Sargent, which was saved by Carthage's Aaron The. Carthage attacked in the 53rd minute with a shot at Vincent Stanislao; as he made the save, the follow-up shot went high and wide to the Firebird possession.
The equalizing goal was scored with 27:22 remaining in the match as a through ball was played in the 8-yard box. In an attempt to knock the ball out, a defender collided with Stanislao, taking him out of the play and allowing the Firebirds to tie the game, 2-2.
Despite surrendering two unanswered goals, the Cardinals had an opportunity to score the game-winning goal in the 69th minute as Sargent freed himself from the defense, and with the goalkeeper to beat, The sold out and picked up a yellow card, preventing North Central from getting a shot off, which set up a penalty kick.
Joris Rijnja was given the opportunity to take the penalty kick, and his shot ricocheted off the right goalpost.
The next opportunity for the Cardinals to score the go-ahead goal came in the 72nd minute as Kurseth crossed the ball to the far side, connecting with Sargent, who tried to head it to the top post but was saved by a diving The.
Stanislao faced one more shot on goal from Carthage, which he saved before North Central turned up the intensity in the final nine minutes of the match in search of the game-winning goal. Eltayeb Mahmoud fired in a shot, which was blocked, and Gege Nikiema followed, which led to a Cardinals' corner kick. Off the corner, Duncevic teed up a shot, which led to another save by The.
The Cardinals outshot the Firebirds 16-11 and had the advantage in shots on goal 11-6. Carthage racked up nine saves in the match to North Central's four, while the corner kicks were close, 5-3 in favor of the Cardinals. Six yellow cards were administered throughout the match, with three going to North Central (Marco Costabile, Rijnja, and Sargent).
The Cardinals currently sit in third place in the CCIW with 11 points. They return home to host the Illinois Wesleyan Titans (10-2-2, 4-1-0 CCIW) on Wednesday, Oct. 22, with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff inside of Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
