Johnson, Mueller score goals as No. 8 Men's Soccer tops Case Western Reserve in Second Round of NCAA III Tournament
By: Tim Glon
CLEVELAND — No. 8-ranked Ohio Northern got goals from junior Cameron Johnson and senior Adrim Mueller to defeat Case Western Reserve 2-0 on a windy Sunday evening in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament at Case Field.
The Polar Bears advance to next weekend's Sweet 16 and Elite 8 Sectional rounds with a 20-2-2 record, while the Spartans end their season with a 15-5 record.
ONU will face No. 6-ranked Ohio Wesleyan, who edged or No. 14-ranked Washington (Mo.) 1-0 on Sunday night, either Nov. 19 or Nov. 20 at a site and time to be determined.
Ohio Northern junior Mac Church was outstanding on goal, recording eight saves to pick up his 14th shutout of the year.
"Our defense was outstanding all night," ONU head coach Brent Ridenour said. "Mac Church was superb in goal and we did a great job of withstanding their pressure. We got two goals into the wind on restarts in the first half and that was huge. Case is a very good team and this was a nice win."
Northern got on the board first at the 19:23 mark of the first half when junior Cameron Johnson scored on a header in traffic off a free kick junior Austin Windsor from near midfield.
The goal was Johnson's 12th of the season.
Northern thought it had a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute, but a goal by senior Greg Stawicki was called off due to an offside violation.
Mueller made it 2-0 with 2:44 left in the first half when he blasted a ball past the goalie to the far post from about 25 yards out off a corner kick by senior Christian Huelsman.
Northern had another scoring opportunity when a header by junior Nate Bascom hit the cross bar with just 30 seconds left in the opening half.
Case had another outstanding scoring opportunity in the 73rd minute, but Ross Twanmoh's shot from 15 yards out sailed just over the cross bar.
Northern countered quickly and Stawicki's shot off a through ball from Huelsman was stopped on an nice save by CWR goalie Ban Yabrow,
CWR's Patrick O'Day had chances in space in front of the net in the 78th and 85th minutes, but his first shot was blocked and his second sailed just wide left to keep the shutout intact.
Case had a golden opportunity to score in the 23rd minute, but Chruch stopped a shot at point blank range and a Polar Bear defender stopped a second point-blank attempt to keep the match scoreless.
The Spartans out-shot the Polar Bears 19-10, including a 9-4 advantage into the wind in the second half.