Against the number four ranked team in Division III, John Carroll more than held its own. 

As a result of its 1-1 tie at Ohio Northern this evening in Ada, John Carroll now has the inside track to claim the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title. Winning out in its final four games would net the Blue Streaks the crown.

Tonight's clash was a rematch of the 2015 Ohio Athletic Conference title bout that would live up to the hype with some impressive similarities.
 
The 2015 OAC Championship match finished regulation and extra time with a draw, but was decided by penalty kicks. There would be no penalty kicks available to decide a winner on the Saturday night clash.
 
It would be the hosting Polar Bears that would find the scoreboard first in the match. In the 16th minute, Ohio Northern earned a free kick after pressuring the Blue Streak defense. Dustin Lorenzo stepped up and buried the touch to give ONU a 1-0 lead.
 
An equalizer was not far away from the Blue Streaks.
 
After pushing on the Ohio Northern defense, there was a breaking point that gave the Blue Streaks a free kick. Brian Lutz serviced the strike into the box, finding a Dalton Browsky header that evened the score at one goal a side.
 
The header from Browsky would be the final scoring tally of regulation and extra time, as the 1-1 score at halftime was all the scoring the 110 minutes of play had to offer.
 
Both sides provided several opportunities in the second half. John Carroll had 16 shots during regulation play with six shots being pushed on frame. Liam McIntosh made five saves in regulation to limit Ohio Northern to just one goal.
 
No scoring touch came in the second half, which forced extra time from both sides.
 
The first of two extra periods was deadlocked in midfield play. Neither side could supply a shot in the first period. In the second extra time period, there was some activity from both sides on either of the field, but there was still no decisive strike from either offense.
 
John Carroll now moves to 7-5-2 overall and 4-0-1 in the conference to remain without a loss. Ohio Northern moved to 13-0-3, and 3-0-2 in the OAC.

JCU has earned 13 points through five matches to stand alone in first place in the OAC, two points ahead of second place occupants Ohio Northern and Capital -- both of whom are ranked in the top 25 nationally (Ohio Northern is #4, Capital #19 in the latest d3soccer.com national poll).