The John Carroll University men's soccer team ended their regular season on a high note, defeating the Fightin' Quakers of Wilmington College 2-1 on senior day at Don Shula Stadium.
The defenses on both sides of the ball dominated play in the first half of action. Neither team was able to find the back of the net, while the Blue Streaks posed serious threats early on. 16 minutes into the contest,
William Turrittin passed a ball into
Jarrod McDowell in the middle. He spun to his left and fired a shot past the defender, but the outstretched Wilmington keeper deflected it out of danger. Kanakkanatt had four of JCU's eight shots in the half. Three of the Blue Streaks' shots required Maurer's intervention. The Fightin' Quakers only managed one shot in the half due to the efforts of
Eric Rozsits and
Chase Fernkorn.
Offense finally struck early in the second half. Turrittin, while working his way in the middle of the Quaker's half, threaded a perfect ball between three Quaker defenders to find a blazing
Evan Malpass. Malpass barely beat the Quaker keeper to the ball, ricocheting the ball off the right post and into the net seven minutes into the half. The score was Malpass' second of his career, granting Turrittin his fourth assist as a Blue Streak.
JCU's final goal of the night came with 27 minutes left to play in regulation. Mitch Kotheimer lobbed in a pass from the near side. Malpass was the first to gauge the touch, deflecting it over to
Mikey Burrington who sent a shot past the keeper. The deciding goal was Burrington's fifth goal in his first season, Kotheimer's second and Malpass' fourth career assist.
The Fightin' Quakers, however, refused to succumb to the deficit. Less than five minutes after Burrington's goal, Wilmington took advantage of a long ball that caught JCU and McIntosh off guard. Wilmington continued to battle, firing six shots, three on target in the second half at McIntosh. With seconds remaining, the Fightin Quakers had a chance at an equalizer. A miscommunication on the John Carroll defense placed the ball at his feet with only McIntosh in his way. The Wilmington player smacked a shot to the far side, but
Liam McIntosh was there, recording his 236th career save in game-winning fashion.
Completing the regular season on a six game win streak, the Blue Streaks find themselves in the second spot in conference standings heading into the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) tournament. Wilmington College ends the season in 7th place with a record of 9-8 overall, 4-5 in the OAC. JCU finishes with a 12-4-1 overall mark and 8-1 in conference play earned a share of the OAC Regular Season title along with Capital University.
Between these two teams, the historical standings improve in John Carroll's favor to 20-5-3 against the Quakers.
The men in Blue & Gold will be back on the Don Shula turf Thursday, November 1st against an opponent that is yet to be determined. More information can be found on the @jcusports twitter account as it arises.
