NCAA MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT FIRST & SECOND ROUND
Hosted by Wheaton College at Joe Bean Stadium
LINK TO THE INTERACTIVE TOURNAMENT BRACKET
FIRST ROUND MATCHES - NOVEMBER 14
Carroll def. Wittenberg, 3-2 --- Boxscore --- Story
Ohio Northern def. Wheaton, 4-1 --- Boxscore --- Story
SECOND ROUND - NOVEMBER 15
Ohio Northern (18-5-1) vs. Carroll (18-3), 6 PM --- Livestats --- Boxscore --- Story
Ohio Northern 2, Carroll 1 (2 OT)
Wheaton, Ill. – With the closing seconds ticking off the clock in the second overtime period, Ohio Northern’s Christian Huelsman scored the game-winning goal to give his Polar Bears a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory against Carroll University (Wis.) in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament.
Ohio Northern is now 19-5-1 on the year and has advanced to the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament Sectional Semifinal next weekend. In the Sectional, the Polar Bears will take on the winner of a Second Round match on Sunday between Hobart and Cortland State. Carroll concludes the season with an 18-4-0 record.
With the score tied at 1-1, Huelsman scored off of a rebounded shot attempt with just 29-seconds remaining in the second and final overtime period. His goal was assisted by Adam Ross. The two teams played through a scoreless second half and neither team scored during the first overtime.
Huelsman scored from 30 yards out, just 16:30 into the match to give Ohio Northern a 1-0 lead. Carroll’s Craig Carlson scored off a Bram Daelemans corner kick at 41:30 into the match to tie the contest at 1-1.
Ohio Northern out-shot Carroll 28-19 and the Polar Bears held an 8-4 edge in corner kicks. Carroll goalkeeper Stanislaw Miaskowski made five saves and allowed two goals. Ohio Northern netminder Aaron Collins recorded 10 saves and allowed one goal.
Ohio Northern 4, Wheaton 1
Wheaton, Ill. – Ohio Northern University took advantage of its opportunities to earn a 4-1 victory against the host Wheaton College Thunder on Friday night in a First Round match of the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament. Wheaton ends its season with 15-4-3 record.
Ohio Northern (18-5-1) will face Carroll College (18-3) on Saturday at 6 PM in a NCAA Tournament Second Round match at Wheaton’s Joe Bean Stadium. Carroll won Friday’s other first round match with a 3-2 victory against Wittenberg University.
Ohio Northern often put the ball in the air and played long ball against the Thunder tonight. It paid off for the guests twice in the second half as the Polar Bears’ Nate Bascom netted two goals to give his team a 2-0 lead at halftime. Bascom’s first goal came at 20:42 into the match from a Christian Huelsman assist and his second score of the night was assisted by Ryan Smith at 42:30 into the contest.
Bascom recorded a hat trick as he scored off of a Chet Gapczynski assist at 65:50. Wheaton’s #Tyler Risma# put the Thunder on the scoreboard with a goal at 85:39. Gapczynski scored with two seconds remaining in the match to account for the 4-1 final score.
Wheaton out-shot the Polar Bears 24-13 and the Thunder held a 5-2 edge in corner kicks. Wheaton goalkeeper #Kit Carson# made four saves and allowed four goals. Ohio Northern netminder Aaron Collins made nine saves and allowed one goal.
Wheaton head coach Mike Giuliano noted following the match, “Ohio Northern did something very basic tonight, and they did it well. They sent it forward to three guys who could dribble and they held it and it worked tonight. They played a brilliant game and they deserved to win.”
Carroll 3, Wittenberg 2
Wheaton, Ill. - Three goals were scored in the final nine minutes of the game as Carroll University snatched the victory from Wittenberg University 3-2 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday.
The Pioneers improved to 17-3-0 and will Ohio Northern at 6 PM on Saturday in the second round. The Tigers end their season with a 16-4-1 record.
Wittenberg was more active on offense in the first half, but it was Carroll who struck first. At 34:41, Andy Prentice took off on a breakaway on the right side. With three defenders surrounding him, he blasted a right-footed shot to the far post that that went past the diving goalkeeper and into the net from 18 yards out. Derek Marie and Bram Daelemans were credited with assists.
The Pioneers kept the 1-0 lead into halftime. The Tigers got on the board in the second half at 52:16, when Matt Borland got behind the defense on a counter rush, lured the goalkeeper to the top of the box, and then sent the ball right past him to tie the score. Matt Fleissner got the assist.
Wittenberg appeared to seal the game with nine minutes left when Brian Glenn gathered a corner kick in front of the goalie box and smacked a left footer in to make it 2-1. Borland was given the assist on the corner kick.
However, Carroll came right back at 84:25 with a little luck on their side. Wittenberg goalkeeper Michael Lambeck collided with an oncoming Carroll attacker while going for the ball on the right sideline by the goal. The ball popped loose and somehow stayed in bounds, which allowed Alex Goranson to gather it up and go in for the unassisted empty-net goal.
The Pioneers ended the suspense two minutes later as a header from Prentice slipped right through the hands of the diving Lambeck at 86:37. Daelemans got the assist on the play.
Both teams took 15 shots in the game, while Carroll held a 7-2 corner kick advantage. Wittenberg received two yellow cards and a red card late in the game.
TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
The Carroll University men’s soccer team won its first-ever Midwest Conference Championship this year and earned a second-consecutive berth to the NCAA Tournament by winning the league’s four-team postseason tournament.
After starting the season 0-2, the Pioneers won 17 of their next 18 contests, including a current 14-match winning streak, and enter the NCAA Tournament with a record of 17-3. The 17 wins are an all-time best for the men’s soccer program, topping the 14 wins accumulated during the 2007 campaign.
Carroll faced Wheaton in the first match of the season, which resulted in a 2-0 win by the Thunder. The Pioneers have not faced the other two participating teams this season.
The Pioneers are 0-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, losing at Wheaton, 3-0 in the first round of the 2007 tournament.
Junior forwards March Hietpas (17 goals) and Andy Prentice (13 goals) combined for 30 goals this season to lead a Carroll offense that netted 63 goals this season. Senior midfielder Dona Lado set a school record for assists in a single season, with 12 to go along with four goals.
Defensively, Carroll’s primary goalkeeper Stanislaw Miaskowski is 17-2 this year with a 0.71 goals against average, a .829 save percentage and eight shutouts.
The Ohio Northern men’s soccer team is 17-5-1 heading into the NCAA Tournament.The team finished third in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) during the regular season and then went on to win its second OAC Tournament Championship in three seasons. Ohio Northern out-scored its opponents 11-1 in the OAC Tournament, including a 3-0 victory in the Championship Match against fourth-seeded Marietta.
Ohio Northern faced Wittenberg this season and lost 4-0 on the road. ONU has not faced any other teams in this draw.
The Polar Bears reached the NCAA Tournament one other time in school history. In 2006, they beat Transylvania 2-0 and then lost to Ohio Wesleyan 1-0.
The Polar Bear offense has been led by freshmen Christian Huelsman and Nate Bascom. Huelsman’s 16 goals is the third-highest single season total in school history and his 39 points is second all-time. Bascom is second on the team with 13 goals and 34 points. He had a team-high four goals and four assists in the three OAC Tournament games.
Northern’s defense is anchored by senior back Ryan Smith and junior goalkeeper Aaron Collins. Both have been an integral part in the team’s school-record 12 shutouts on the year. Collins has a record of 17-5-1 with a 0.66 goals against average, a .850 save percentage and all 12 shutouts.
This year’s trip to the postseason is Wheaton’s 16th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament, the longest active streak in Division III.
The program has made 30 NCAA appearances since the Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament began in 1974 and is tied with Ohio Wesleyan for the most appearances in this history of the tournament. Wheaton is 40-26-3 (.601) all-time in the postseason, with five Final Four appearances and National Championships in 1984 and 1997.
Wheaton has posted a 27-4-5 record at Joe Bean Stadium over its last 36 home matches and is 10-1-1 at home this year.
Joel DeLass is the team’s leasing scorer with 11 goals and eight assists in 17 matches this year. DeLass has scored 10 goals with three assists in his last 10 matches. Matt Swartz also has eight goals and 12 assists while Stephen Mesko has 10 goals and four assists.
Senior goalkeeper Joe Selvaggio leads the team with an 8-2-2 record and 1.03 goals against average, with four shutouts. Freshman Kit Carson is 5-1-1 with a 0.83 goals against average, and four shutouts.
Wheaton has proven to be a second-half team this year, out-scoring opponents 27-8 in the second half this season.
Wittenberg returns to the 2008 NCAA Division III Tournament after a 12-year absence.
The Tigers received an at-large berth into the tournament after tying Ohio Wesleyan 2-2 but falling short in penalty kicks in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament Championship Match on November 8.
After winning their first 13 games to break school records for longest winning streak and best start in program history, the Tigers finished 16-3-1 overall. Wittenberg wound up third in the NCAC, but the Tigers saved their season with a conference tournament semifinal win at second-seeded Hiram on Nov. 5 and the aforementioned tie at Ohio Wesleyan on Nov. 8.
The Tigers, who were ranked as high as a program-best fifth in the national ranking in 2008, have a 1-1-1 record against teams that qualified for the 2008 NCAA Division III Tournament. Wittenberg is making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1996. The Tigers have never won a NCAA Division III Tournament match, falling to NCAC rivals Ohio Wesleyan in 1991 and 1992 and Kenyon in 1993 and 1996. All four losses were by one goal.
Wittenberg is led by a senior class that includes 2007 Third-Team All-American and NCAC “Offensive Player of the Year” Matt Borland. He leads the conference with 12 assists in 19 games, while teammate Shane Price leads in goals with 13. Goalkeeper Michael Lambeck ranks third in the NCAC with a save percentage of .783 and first with seven shutouts.