Biggest Game Yet? (ONU vs John Carroll)

    Last Saturday, the ONU Men's Soccer team had potentially one of the most important games of their season. This game came against John Carroll, who is ONU's biggest rival in the OAC. In recent years, John Carroll has been on top in the fixtures, but the games between these two opponents always seem to come down to the wire. This year would be no different as both teams are fighting for the top spot in the conference.

    This game started off exactly how one would expect. It was a very back and forth game, with both teams just simply shutting down the other. From the beginning, it looked like a game of which team was going to make a mistake first and the other team capitalize. It was a battle all over the field and neither team really looked like scoring. John Carroll's defense hadn't yet conceded a goal in the OAC after five games, so the ONU team knew it would be a tough time to break them down. However, ONU was the first team to score when a goal came in the 25th minute of the 1st half. This lead was short-lived though and John Carroll was able to tie the game just eight minutes later. This is how the half ended with the score tied at 1-1 and both teams wanting more. ONU knew they needed to come out on fire after halftime so they could grab a lead and control the rest of the game. The 2nd half started and that is exactly what they did. The Polar Bears got their 2nd goal of the game in only a minute after the half started, putting them in a more comfortable position to see the game out. There was still lots of game left, so ONU needed to dig deep to hold on to the lead. The game stayed relatively even until about the last 10 minutes of the game, when John Carroll really started to put pressure on ONU's defense. John Carroll had many opportunities to score, but ONU stayed strong and held them off until the end. The game ended 2-1 with ONU getting their first win against John Carroll in seven years.

    This win took the ONU team to 11 games unbeaten and to 1st place in the OAC. The win itself was great, but the confidence the win gave the team was far greater. To make things even better, following this game the NCAA ranked ONU at #21 in the country for D3 men's soccer. The team hopes to continue their hot streak and make a run post-season.

Go Bears!