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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Jack Foht file photo
Doug Beigie
Jack Foht scored a goal in the loss at #11 Calvin.
3
John Carroll JCU (5-2-1, 0-0-0)
5
Winner Calvin CAL (7-2-0, 0-0-0)
John Carroll JCU
(5-2-1, 0-0-0)
3
Final
5
Calvin CAL
(7-2-0, 0-0-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
John Carroll JCU 1 2 3
Calvin CAL 2 3 5

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | Gianluca DiGiacomo, Staff Writer

Men's Soccer Falls at #11 Calvin in a Frenetic Match

A Blistering Calvin Offense Renders Blue Streak Effort Obsolete in Penultimate Non-Conference Match

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Tonight, the John Carroll Blue Streaks traveled to the River City of Grand Rapids for yet another epic out of conference battle, a duel between two of the country's finest programs. John Caroll ranked #4 going into this contest took on #13 Calvin University.

John Carroll came into this game keen on a victory for more reasons than one. Historically, the Knights have had the better of the Blue Streaks. With only five contests between the two, Calvin has come away victorious in three of those matches (2005, 2017, 2022).

Of course last season's matchup between these teams created another layer of intrigue between the two teams, with Calvin barely scraping by with three points courtesy of the header from a long throw with just four minutes left of play for a 2-1 victory.

Finally, the Blue Streaks entered this game looking to rebound after suffering their first loss of the season on Wednesday in absolutely brutal fashion, conceding two goals in 61 seconds late in a 2-1 loss against Denison University. Calvin would be in a similar boat, losing a tough contest to Carthage 4-2, while also dropping a shocking loss to the University of Mount Union prior to that.

In the end, it would be Calvin defeating the Blue Streaks 5-3 tonight, giving the Blue Streaks their regular season loss away from home since the 2021 season with a loss to Ohio Wesleyan in September of that year.

From Zuidema Field, the Blue Streaks and Knights kicked off on a beautiful night for soccer–not a cloud in sight with a cool breeze circulating throughout the area. The center official blew the whistle, and things were underway. The opening minutes looked to be in John Carroll's favor, winning some important balls in the middle and progressing nicely, but Calvin quickly turned the tides as they moved down the pitch in the eighth minute of play.

The Knights got the ball nicely up the pitch, as it landed in between the feet of Chris Schau. Schau is no stranger to the Blue Streaks, as he was the man behind countless attacks in last season's game and the player who would knock in the header to win it in the dying embers. Schau continued his stellar track record, as he touched the ball to his right foot and had a crack from the vertex of the 18-yard box. Schau's shot bent around, off of the post towards the top right corner, and into the net to open the scoring. A touch of absolute class and finesse to give Calvin an optimal opening.

Disaster struck early for the Blue Streaks, but they responded quickly, slowly but surely chipping away at Calvin's advantage on the momentum side of things. The Blue Streaks tried to get things going through service into the penalty area, but much of it was thwarted by Calvin's absolutely mountainous back line. With a combination of athleticism and size with the back four and the keeper, it made it very difficult for John Carroll to win duels both grounded and aerially.

The breadth of the second half grew to be a war of attrition between the two sides, with great strife for possession and although the chance creation was stellar, the end product was never found, huge chances from Logan Penton and Hayden Haffner just inches away from brilliance respectively. Both teams were largely caught at an impasse before the Blue Streaks finally managed to draw it level.

After continued perseverance towards goal through much of the first half, Jaden Wright finally was able to break the curse for John Carroll with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. Wright created some space on the right hand flank and tried a chance from a rather unfavorable angle. As the ball traveled into the center of the box, Calvin center back Aguma Muhumuza incidentally sent it into his own net. A huge break from the Blue Streaks, and a blunder from the fifth-year in what was otherwise a spotless game from him tonight.

John Carroll's slight sense of clarity would quickly be foiled as just three minutes later, Calvin regained their advantage. In a state of pandemonium in the box, a squared ball across would go off of the wrong part of the foot of a John Carroll defender and off the post, straight into the middle for Ethan Brown to tap it in to finally put an end to the confusion. Calvin hopped right back into the driver's seat as John Carroll headed into the half down a goal.

Coming out of the half, both teams were prepared to put their ammunition to use. The Blue Streaks were heavily motivated, as even though they were down a goal, their work ethic and chance creation in the first half still had them highly motivated. This was tried and tested almost immediately, as Calvin delivered another blow to John Carroll just 51 seconds into the half.

Alex White slid one past the keeper once again to make it 3-1, completely stunning the visitors as the team rushed to a celebration in the corner. Another quick turn in the story of the evening.

Wenzler's Warriors would again have to start from scratch, their lack of closing out/opening halves beginning to take a toll in the contest. Once again, the Blue Streaks took a massive hit to their gameplan, but would stand strong and begin swinging right back.

Fifteen minutes later, John Carroll again made things interesting. Jaden Wright beat his man down the right hand flank. Wright squared it across, and Brenden Swann placed a nice backheel flick into the awaiting boots of Hayden Haffner, who buried his effort. It was now 3-2, and JCU had a lifeline.

Mladenovic's men now began to show their true colors. That goal provided a massive momentum boost for the Blue Streaks and saw a massive jolt in energy begin to propel this team closer and closer to drawing things even. A fantastic span of 8-9 minutes it was, until tragedy struck yet again.

Just ten minutes later, the Knights had possession in their attacking third once again. After a deflection, the ball fell to Christopher Schau about 30 yards away from goal. Schau struck sideways through the ball, sending it spiraling through the air at an inconceivable velocity into the top corner of the net, the keeper Carson Essad having a better chance laying his glove on the Sun.

It was another absolute gut punch to the Blue Streaks. Every step forward yielded two steps back, and frustration began to grow. All one could do was gander, with a tear rolling down their eye not only out of frustration, but out of pure awe of seeing a strike of the ball of such beauty. A touch of Midas to say the least.

Swiftly moving forward, Calvin doubled down as 45 seconds later, Oliver Akintade would knock in a fifth to add insult to injury. Another run down the right hand channel with a finish bottom left.

The Blue Streaks' Jack Foht capitalized for a third goal for John Carroll, but at that point it would merely be a consolation as the John Carroll would fall 5-3 to the #13 Knights. The Knights knocked in five goals, the first time for it to happen to a John Carroll team since 2014. You must tip your cap to John Carroll's opponents tonight; a stellar performance from the goalkeeper Daniel Wunder and the entire backline combined with a preeminent two goals and two assists from Chris Schau makes this team one to seriously be on the lookout for moving forward.

As for the Blue Streaks, Dejan Mladenovic had a spectacularly optimistic approach to the result this team faced tonight, saying, "Full credit to Calvin. They are one of the best teams in the country and they showed it tonight. You can't give a squad with that type of talent the chances that we did and it ultimately cost us the game.

"That being said, I feel extremely encouraged about our team after tonight's game despite the result. We grew a lot as a group tonight and that's what's most important. This is the main reason why we play the type of non-conference schedule that we do. We are very close to breaking through. I can't wait to get back to work on Monday."

John Carroll will have one final crack at non-conference play this Wednesday, as they travel to Lansing, Michigan for a neutral-site game against North Park University, another one of the country's finest programs. Kickoff will be at 6:00 p.m., and the game will be covered on jcusports.com and OAC TV.
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