No. 7 Men's Soccer defeats John Carroll 2-0 for third straight OAC Tournament Championship
By: Jake Schwerer
ADA--The No. 7 Ohio Northern men's soccer team won its third consecutive OAC Tournament Championship by defeating John Carroll 2-0 Sunday afternoon at the ONU Soccer Field.
The Polar Bears improve their record to 20-2 while the Blue Streaks fall to 10-7-3.
With its tournament victory, Northern receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The game was a defensive battle for the first 38 minutes, with neither team getting many chances to score.
Senior Chris Matejka broke the scoreless tie in the 38th minute, when he executed a perfect bicycle kick into the lower right corner of the goal.
"I saw the ball in the air and went for it," Matejka said of the goal. "It was an awesome feeling when I hit the ground and saw it in the back of the net."
The goal was his seventh of the season.
Then, one minute later, senior Nate Bascom passed the ball to freshman Keegan Ross who beat the goalie to the right for his 19th goal of the season to give ONU a 2-0 lead.
"John Carroll is a tough opponent," said head coach Brent Ridenour. "All week we preached team defense. Our defense was solid and getting the 14th shutout of the season is amazing."
Senior goalie Mac Church made three saves in the game and improved his record to 20-2.
John Carroll senior goalie, Carl Contrascier, made eight saves and fell to 10-6-2.
John Carroll outshot the Ohio Northern 15-14, but the Polar Bears held the advantage in shots on goal, 10-3.
"Not losing in the OAC this season is phenomenal," Ridenour added. "I am very proud of each and each one of the guys on this team. They all worked very hard to achieve this."
Ohio Northern will find out when and where they will play when the NCAA Tournament field is announced on Monday at 1 pm during the NCAA Tournament Men's Soccer Selection Show.
