Men's Soccer First Round Features One Upset, Two-OT Thriller
CHICAGO ---- One upset and a double-overtime thriller highlighted the first round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament on Wednesday. When all was said and done, higher seeds Olivet Nazarene University, Viterbo University and Saint Xavier University all advanced as did No. 5 Judson University.
Judson (7-7-5) claimed the most decisive victory with its 3-0 win over No. 4 Holy Cross College, while No. 3 Saint Xavier (12-4-3) needed nearly 107 minutes before prevailing over Trinity Christian College 4-3. Top-seeded Olivet Nazarene (16-2-1) and No. 2 Viterbo (11-5-2) each won by two-goal differences with the former capturing a 2-0 victory over St. Ambrose University and Viterbo a 5-2 decision versus Governors State University.
Semifinal-round matchups have Judson traveling to Olivet Nazarene on Saturday and Saint Xavier doing the same to La Crosse, Wis. to meet Viterbo. The highest remaining seed of those two matches hosts the championship next Wednesday.
The winner of the tournament earns the league's automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.
Recapping Wednesday:
Olivet Nazarene 2, St. Ambrose 0
Atjon Thaqi scored the only goal that mattered at 12:40 before Noa Norton added an insurance tally in the closing minute as Olivet Nazarene extended its winning streak to 12 matches. Cedric Kunzli recorded three saves to gain his fifth shutout of the season.
Viterbo 4, Governors State 2
Viterbo wiped out a 2-1 halftime deficit courtesy of Joaquin Eichhorn's second-half hat trick. The senior forward scored in the 67th, 73rd and 81st minutes to advance the V-Hawks. Pedro Mendez had the two goals for Governors State, both of which came in the first half, where the two teams combined for three goals in the opening 18 minutes.
Saint Xavier 4, Trinity Christian 3
Saint Xavier also had to battle from behind with the Cougars wiping out an initial 2-0 deficit by halftime. Trinity Christian regained the lead in the 77th minute only to have SXU answer right back one minute later on Jessie Cardiel's tally. The Cougars then won it with just three minutes remaining in the second overtime on Omar Aparicio's goal from Yael Diaz. The two teams combined for 50 shots with 27 being on goal.
Judson 3, Holy Cross 0
Ivan Dominguez delivered his ninth shutout of the season by stopping three shots, while the Eagles had exactly that many shots find the back of the net. Mateo Vadura had the lone tally in the opening half (38:06) before Fernando Nkumah and Jesus Guerrero tacked on a pair of goals after the break. Nkumah also assisted on Guerrero's goal.
The complete tournament results and remaining schedule follow:
Wednesday, November 5 - First Round
• Match #1: No. 1 Olivet Nazarene 2, No. 8 St. Ambrose 0
• Match #2: No. 5 Judson 3, No. 4 Holy Cross 0
• Match #3: No. 2 Viterbo 4, No. 7 Governors State 2
• Match #4: No. 3 Saint Xavier 4, No. 6 Trinity Christian 3 --- 2 OT
Saturday, November 8 - Semifinal Round
• Match #5: No. 5 Judson (7-7-5) at No. 1 Olivet Nazarene (16-2-1)--- 3 pm CT
• Match #6: No. 3 Saint Xavier (12-4-3) at No. 2 Viterbo (11-5-2) --- 1 pm CT
Wednesday, November 12 – Championship
• Match #7: Winner-Match #5 vs. Winner-Match #6 --- TBA (at site of highest remaining seed)