Contact: Sam Fretto, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, sjfretto@noctrl.edu

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Oct. 22, 2025)- Hosting the number two team in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) for their final home game of the regular season, the North Central College men's soccer team came away with a 1-1 wash against the Illinois Wesleyan Titans.

The Titans (10-2-3, 4-1-1 CCIW) found early scoring opportunities beginning with a shot from Ben Lyons 3:14 into the game as Daniel Szalai made the save. A North Central foul in the fifth minute set up an Illinois Wesleyan free kick outside of the 18-yard box. The Titans whipped in a crossing pass and found the head of Ryder Coleman as the shot went off the crossbar. Off the shot, Matthew Perchick tracked down the loose ball feet away from the goal and touched it to Joey Rodino for the goal to make it 1-0. 

The Cardinals' (7-1-7, 3-0-3 CCIW) offense struggled to get consistent pressure in the Titans' defensive zone. Joris Rijnja headed in a shot nine minutes in off of a free kick, but Illinois Wesleyan goalkeeper Sam Kedzior skied up to make the save. In the following minute, Jay Umana served a pass to Marco Costabile in the attacking zone, but Costabile didn't get enough velocity on the shot, and Kedzior made the save.

Illinois Wesleyan threatened to take a 2-0 advantage in the 22nd minute as a through ball played ahead to Coleman set him up in front of the Cardinals' goal, but he missed the mark, connecting with the crossbar. The possession resulted in the game's first corner for both sides, but the Titans failed to capitalize. In the counterattack, Umana teed up a shot from 25 yards out, but the ball got deflected off a Titans' defender and found the foot of Lorenzo Monticelli as he fired to a diving Kedzior, who collected the save. 

North Central's equalizer came in the 33rd minute with a flawless counterattack started by Tim Chai playing the ball ahead to Costabile. Costabile then played the ball up the field and made a defender miss while crossing to Joseph Sargent, who whipped the ball past Kedzior to the right side of the net. Chai and Costabile both got credited with an assist for Sargent's 13th goal of his freshman campaign. Chai recorded his second assist, while Costabile is now up to 10 on the season. 

Both teams got aggressive in the second half in the quest for the game-winning goal. Coleman headed a ball wide left off of a free kick to give the Cardinals possession at 51:53. The empty possession allowed North Central to set up an attack led by Sargent. Receiving the ball, Sargent put on a burst of speed trying to beat the defender at his right hip. Ultimately the defender altered Sargent's shot, and he missed wide right. Will Mayer took the next shot for the Cardinals in the 55th minute, but Kedzior was there for the stop. 

Szalai faced pressure late in the match after seeing a shot from Daniel Smazil but made the save to preserve the 1-1 match. The final scoring opportunity for the Cardinals came off a corner kick at 75:56. The corner deflected out to Aleks Duncevic, and he volleyed a pass to Rijnja, who headed wide right. In the closing seconds of the match, the Titans fired off two blocked shots for the 1-1 final. 

Shots were close for both teams, as Illinois Wesleyan had 16 to North Central's 15, although the Cardinals won the shots on goal battle, 6-5. Illinois Wesleyan set up for four corner kicks, while North Central had one, and the Titans had five saves to North Central's four. Sargent scored his 13th goal of the season, which is first in the conference and tied for 13th in the nation in Division III competition. Costabile's 10 assists are the most in the conference, and he is tied for fourth most in the country among Division III. 

With the tie, North Central remains in third place in the CCIW with 12 points. Above them are Wheaton College with 21 points and Illinois Wesleyan with 13. North Park University and Carroll University are tied for fourth with nine. The Cardinals will travel to North Park (8-5-1, 3-3 CCIW) on Saturday, Oct. 25, where they kick off at 2 p.m. from the Holmgren Athletic Complex.