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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
3
Winner John Carroll JCU (7-7-3, 3-2-1)
1
Wabash WABASH (6-11-0, 2-5-0)
Winner
John Carroll JCU
(7-7-3, 3-2-1)
3
Final
1
Wabash WABASH
(6-11-0, 2-5-0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
John Carroll JCU 2 1 3
Wabash WABASH 1 0 1
Sava Crnjak file photo
Benjy Szucs, Yellow Lab Studios

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

Blue Streaks Take Down Little Giants in Massive Road Win

Team Finding Stride in Late Stages of NCAC Play

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – After taking down the Battling Bishops on Wednesday at home in a must-win match, the John Carroll Men's Soccer team had another crucial game ahead of them in Indiana, taking on the Little Giants of Wabash College.

With the first-ever matchup between the two programs coming in at a crucial time of the season, it was surely going to be an interesting one. An overnight trip with a must-win on the horizon, the team needed to rally like they did in the middle of the week.

The Blue Streaks fought hard through a game that was outside of its bigger moments, a war of attrition, the team securing another 3-1 win and now a proper fourth place spot in the NCAC, creating a two-point gap ahead of Ohio Wesleyan following their 2-2 draw with Wooster.

The game kicked off its unorthodox nature in the opening minute as John Carroll quickly rushed towards their attacking end with haste. Down the left hand flank, a touch off the boot of Andrew Massucci fell to Sava Crnjak pushing forward. The sophomore got a good look and fired a shot into the bottom right corner, scoring his first career goal–not being able to come at a much better time.

After this, the Blue Streaks were soaring with momentum for the first quarter or so of game action, keeping possession and clearly throwing Wabash off of their equilibrium.

A few minutes later, the Blue Streaks had another good look, a corner whipping it at the back post to Zalan Onodi, whose header was sent right into the ground and mustered enough power to send it bouncing over the crossbar.

The offense dwindled not long after that, with John Carroll in the driver's seat, but Wabash slowly but surely getting more and more confident with the ball at their feet. Quickly, this translated to more time within their attacking third, and in turn set them up for the equalizer.

In the 27th minute, the Little Giants were building on the right hand side, and slipped a ball through into the 18 yard box. John Carroll could not quite box out the incoming attacker, circumnavigating Carter Adams and getting tripped by keeper Owen Szucs as he crashed into the box. The official pointed to the spot with no hesitation, and the opportunity sprung for the home team to bring a goal back.

Francisco Perez stepped up for the Little Giants, slotting a low driven shot into the bottom left to get some momentum back. A loud crowd, a bench reinvested into things, and an even scoreline gave them a sense of a turnaround inbound.

That feeling was quite short-lived, however, as ten minutes later John Carroll pulled back ahead in impressive fashion.

As the Little Giants tried to build out of their own half, John Carroll's high press forced a turnover along the left hand flank. Midfielder Nick Mikulec eventually got onto it, and played a ball back towards the middle for Luka Pranjeta. The junior took a bit of the space ahead of him and placed an absolute rocket from 30 yards out. The shot soared past the outstretched glove of Colin Sutter and into the top left corner. A huge moment and a massive swing that allowed for the Blue Streaks to head into halftime with the 2-1 lead.

The second half maintained a slower attacking pace as well, with only one shot being registered by both teams for the first fifteen minutes of the half, otherwise nothing convincing.

The Blue Streaks would hit a big obstacle in the 60th minute of play as freshman Zalan Onodi went down with an injury that took him out of the remainder of the match. John Carroll was down one of their more energetic, commanding pieces, and needed to stay strong for the final half hour.

The game slowed down even more in the coming minutes, with that "war of attrition" theme becoming more apparent. As the final whistle came closer, Wabash began trying to get themselves back into the driver's seat.

In the 70th minute, the Little Giants pushed forward and got a handful of shots off, each of which being blocked by a retreating John Carroll defender. A final shot at the top of the box from Ben Church was dragged wide.

Five minutes later, Wabash got even closer. Off of a big transition, Colton Hughes-Suiters got a shot from the left hand side of the box, getting a fingertip save out of Owen Szucs. After the corner, Sebastian Licon had a good shot at the front post, the freshman keeper Szucs going to ground again to keep the ball out.
In the 83rd minute, Wabash continued their series of scares as Alfredo Campos lofted in a beautiful ball into the area, Bryce Kinnaman getting his head on it with his back turned to goal with the ball floating just over the crossbar, with the ball skimming off of the head of Carter Adams in the process.

The corner was a big chance for the Little Giants to level things, but a muffed short ball from the corner allowed things to turn for the worst, as the ball was played to Dylan Halm who raced all the way up the pitch, squaring it to Andrew Massucci that would put the nail in the coffin with a low shot into the bottom left corner.

Wabash produced a few more scores before the final whistle, but nothing too convincing as John Carroll secured their second consecutive win in NCAC play.

Next Up
The Blue Streaks will remain on the road and travel to southern Ohio to take on Wittenberg University at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday October 29 before returning home to play nationally-ranked Denison in one week on Saturday November 1st. The Blue Streaks remain in the top four, now creating a two-point gap between themselves and Ohio Wesleyan.
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Scoring Summary

Scoring Summary
Scoring Team Scoring Play
00:55
JCU Sava Crnjak (1)
Assisted By: Andrew Massucci
Pass across to the right side, goal scored 15' out
26:00
WABASH Francisco Perez (2)
PK for contact by the keeper in the box with attacking player
36:40
JCU Luka Pranjeta (2)
Assisted By: Nick Mikulec
Shot from right side 19' out
84:53
JCU Andrew Massucci (6)
Assisted By: Dylan Halm
GOAL by JCU Massucci, Andrew Assist by Halm, Dylan.

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