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

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Sept. 27, 2025)- Setting the tone for College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play, the North Central College men's soccer team hosted and defeated the Carroll University Pioneers in a 6-0 rout Saturday inside Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. The six goals in the match mark their highest goal total against a CCIW opponent since 2023. 

The scoring barrage nearly began in the 18th minute after the Cardinals started firing shot after shot. Aleks Duncevic retrieved a blocked shot and fired away outside the 18-yard box, which was swatted away after a spectacular diving save by Carroll goalkeeper Uriel Garcia. 

North Central (3-1-4, 1-0-0 CCIW) ended up scoring the first of their six scores in the 20th minute after two previous corner kicks came up empty for the Cardinals. The third time was the charm as Marco Costabile connected with Joseph Sargent off the corner as Sargent headed in his fourth goal of the season to the upper left corner. 

The Pioneers (3-5-0, 0-1-0 CCIW) tightened up the defense to finish out the first half, allowing just one more shot on goal, which was saved. 

A successful clearance from Joris Rijnja in the 47th minute set Sargent up for his second score of the contest and fifth of the season, as he played the ball ahead as Sargent beat both defenders in the counterattack. One-on-one with just the goalkeeper to beat, Sargent went to the bottom left corner to give the Cardinals a 2-0 advantage. 

Needing a response, Carroll fired off shots at Daniel Szalai in the 48th and 52nd minutes, both of which he saved effortlessly. 

Griffin French scored his fifth goal of the season to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead in the 59th minute. The 10th corner kick of the day set French up for the goal as Hector Huerta sent the ball in and found French's right foot as he went to the lower right side of the net. 

A poor clearance by the Pioneers' defense set up the Cardinals' fourth goal of the game in the 70th minute, after Jack Bonavia tracked down a whiff clearance by the Carroll defender and found a trailing Eltayeb Mahmoud out wide. Mahmoud collected a pass in the 18-yard box, made a man miss, and went to the top right with his left foot for the 4-0 lead. 

Moments after a slew of Pioneers' substitutions in the 74th minute, the Carroll defense was caught on the back foot. French played a ball up ahead to Gege Nikiema in the middle of the field, and with a four-on-two advantage, Nikiema dropped a pass off to Bonavia for the first of his two goals as he finished to the right side. 

Bonavia put the finishing touches on the 6-0 blowout of the Pioneers, receiving a pass from Tim Chai, beating his defender one-on-one, and firing past Garcia, who sold out to attempt to stop a sixth goal. Chai was credited with the assist. 

The Cardinals had four different goal scorers in the match, with both Sargent and Bonavia picking up a brace. Bonavia also recorded an assist for five points in the match. Daniel Szalai shut out the Pioneers for 74:47 and picked up four saves before getting relieved by Lucas Visser, who played the remaining 15:13. 

North Central is back in action Wednesday, Oct. 1, for a non-conference match with Trine University (1-7-1). Kickoff inside Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.