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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Jaden Wright file photo
Jose Figueroa
Jaden Wright scored two goals in the road victory over Wilmington.
3
Winner John Carroll JOHN CAR (7-2-1, 1-0-0)
2
Wilmington (Ohio) WILMINGT (1-8-1, 0-1-0)
Winner
John Carroll JOHN CAR
(7-2-1, 1-0-0)
3
Final
2
Wilmington (Ohio) WILMINGT
(1-8-1, 0-1-0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
John Carroll JOHN CAR 1 2 3
Wilmington (Ohio) WILMINGT 1 1 2

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

Men's Soccer Fights Past Quakers on the Road to Start OAC Play

WILMINGTON, Ohio -- Tonight, the John Carroll Blue Streaks traveled down south to take on Wilmington College in their opening Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) match. Coming off of a narrow victory far from home against the Chicago-native North Park University, it was time to come up against a familiar foe in Wilmington College, who have been chomping at the bit to get their hands on the Blue Streaks again.

Last season yielded some horribly unfortunate results for the Quakers against the reigning OAC Champions. Similar to this year, the Quakers faced off against the Blue Streaks in the opening conference match, this time at Don Shula Stadium. This match's finish would be a miserable one for the visitors as it would finish 1-0, the game being decided solely by an own goal from a deflection with less than two minutes to play. Later on, the Blue Streaks would capture their OAC title against that same Quakers team just over a month later in a massive 4-1 victory. Now, it would come down to a showdown on their own turf, looking to rebound off of a bleak out-of-conference tenure.

Despite a valiant game put together by the Quakers, they would fall to John Carroll, 3-2.

A nice fall evening for soccer from Wilmington, as both teams wasted no time looking to set the standard of attacking quality. Wilmington created a few glimpses of hope with some good progression, but no real end product was achieved. On the other hand, John Carroll would have a few chances tip-toe around the face of goal, but none found a home in the back of the net.

A quarter of the way through the match, the Blue Streaks notched a tally on the scoresheet. John Carroll coaxed the ball around their back line as it was played horizontally to the center back Steven Samuelson. Samuelson quickly scoured the pitch for a long ball before locking eyes with the winger Jaden Wright. Samuelson played an absolutely beautiful ball over the top to Wright, and Carroll's attacking assassin beat the keeper to the ball and executed a lovely chip over the keeper, having it sail into the back of the net. After a war of attrition through the open minutes, the Blue Streaks opened the account.

A goal of this level of frustration correspondingly triggered something in the home team's side, slowly but surely chipping away at John Carroll's foundation. It wouldn't take long from Wilmington to turn the tide, as right before the half, a bundle of attacking chances finally spilled into the scoring category. With 1:07 left on the clock, Wilmington played an over-the-top long ball into the attacking third. After circumnavigating Cade Gergye, Oscar Warmlund found himself matched up with keeper Carson Essad. Warmlund's initial shot was saved by the keeper, but unfortunately directed straight into the path of Kaden Young, who struck the ball with a solid bit of power into the back of the net.

With that, the referee blew for halftime, and although John Carroll had bested the Quakers for a majority of the half, it was still all level in the end. Both coaches gave their speeches and we were in for an eventful second half.

At the frontside of the second half, Wilmington set a solid tone. Continuing their emphasis on forward progression and keeping attackers pressed high to have a numerical advantage up top for quicker transitions, Wilmington's chance creation changed the game radically.

With a counter attack down the line, a Wilmington attacker blew by center back Nicholas Ruggiero. With Ruggiero struggling to cover ground, the captain opted to commit a tactical foul line transition. Ruggiero would be the last man, so as the officials whistle blew for the foul, the referee showed no hesitation to give a straight red to the defender, and John Carroll would be down a man for the better part of the second half. Still 31 minutes to play now, and the teams were still caught at an impasse.

John Carroll did not seem to be phased for the moment, though, as the Blue Streaks pulled ahead only eight minutes later. Buildup through the middle, Nicholas Graeca played the ball ahead for Daniel Kalic. Kalic, a usually conservative player on the offensive end of things, hit an absolute missile of a strike off of the bottom of the crossbar and into the net from 30 yards out, sending the bench into a state of pandemonium.

Things only continued to grow in chaotic elements, as Wilmington equalized once again in a rather unorthodox matter another eight minutes later. A pass deflected out of bounds yielded a throw-in for the Quakers in their attacking third. Despite their fruitless efforts before, the Quakers capitalized here, as Connor Neidemire launched the ball from the far side of the pitch. Neidemire's through soared into the area, and Carson Essad tapped it in an attempt to clear the ball from danger. Since Essad tapped the ball on its way into the net, the goal would stand for Wilmington–another huge blow for John Carroll's confidence.

Despite the setback, John Carroll did not go down peacefully. The Blue Streaks rallied for the closing stages to finally put the game to bed. In the 83rd minute, JCU came in with an attack on the left hand side with Jack Foht. The Erie native dropped a defender, sending him to the shops as he infiltrated the 18-yard box along the endline. Foht squared it into the middle for Jaden Wright, who shielded the defender, turned to his left, and placed an outside of the foot strike into the left hand side of the net.

Although Wilmington created a few scares later, it would prove futile, as John Carroll scraped away with a win in their OAC opener. John Carroll continued their unbeaten streak against the Quakers stemming from 2004, and would improve to 7-2-1 on the season.

John Carroll will come back to Don Shula Stadium after a three-game away spell to take on Heidelberg in their second OAC contest of the season. Kickoff at 7:00 p.m., coverage on jcusports.com and OAC TV!

Here are the the final scores of the first gameweek of OAC play:

(0-1-0) University of Mount Union 1-2 Ohio Northern University (1-0-0)
(1-0-0) Muskingum University 3-2 Heidelberg University (0-1-0)
(0-1-0) Capital University 1-2 Otterbein University (1-0-0)
(1-0-0) Baldwin Wallace University 2-0 Marietta College (0-1-0)
(1-0-0) John Carroll University 3-2 Wilmington College (0-1-0)
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