It was a beautiful fall afternoon to start, and a beautiful afternoon at the end by all accounts at Don Shula Stadium -- if you were a senior men's soccer player for the John Carroll Blue Streaks.

Using an early goal and a man advantage for all but the first nine minutes, the Streaks managed  to defeat Capital Crusaders, 1-0, to put the wraps on the 2010 regular season.

Box Score

The day began with the 11 JCU seniors walking onto the field with their parents, and presenting their mother with flowers.

Pleasanties soon gave way.

The first half of the game consisted of the Blue Streaks keeping the ball in Capital's half of the field, spurred by the red card on Capital's defensemen Chris Fountain nine minutes into the game on a flagrant tackle from behind.

A relentless attack yielded results, as senior midfielder Kyle Buxman scored, with assists from classmates Joe Ciacchi and Jeff Kosek at the 15:16 mark of the opening period.

“Ciacchi and Kosek did all the work," said Buxman afterward. "The goal felt amazing, not only because it gave us the lead, but Ciacchi and I are roommates and we've played together since about the age of ten."

Another impressive senior was goalkeeper Matt DeMarchi. His statistic of five saves does not tell the full story. The highlight of DeMarchi's goaltending was his leaping save with 27 minutes left in the first half.

Preserving the one-goal advantage took some doing, however, especially in the final minute of play. Slipping past the JCU defense, Capital forward Josh Thaboune made a great play to draw DeMarchi up in the box and then chipped a lofted ball over the senior's outstretched hands. As the ball bounded to the right post,  senior defenseman Jake Milli knocked it away mere inches from the line. 

"This win against Capital is a momentum booster for us heading into Tuesday OAC Quarterfinal game," said Buxman. 

While the team celebrated its win, head coach hector Marinaro was already looking ahead three days hence, when the Blue Streaks will make their 18th appearance in the OAC Tournament. JCU will be the #5 seed and visit #4 seed Mount Union, who knocked off the Streaks, 1-0, in Alliance back on Oct.  18.

“It's playoff time,' said Marinaro. "For us, it is time to play and take things up a notch. You have to have to have the mantality of 'One and Done' ... Win or go home. There is no other way to go about it.”

 With the most recent win, the Blue Streak men's soccer's  team improves their record to 5-4 in OAC, and 11-8 overall. Capital falls to 13-5 and 6-3 in league play, but did secure the #3 seed and a home match Tuesday.