Box Score On what began as a rainy September Saturday at Don Shula Stadium, the John Carroll men's soccer team ignored the dark clouds hanging over them and improved their season forecast, defeating the Fredonia State Blue Devils by a score of 4-0.

It was already an emotionally charged weekend at John Carroll as the men's soccer program paid tribute to the memories and lives of Andrew "Dewey" McCarthy (class of 1981) and Josh Bernot (class of 2004) -- two former Blue Streaks who passed away at relatively young ages -- by retiring the jersey #2 that both players wore during their competitive days.

With many alumni on hand, the John Carroll men's soccer team wanted to cap the weekend in a fitting manner.

A slick field and dark sky provided less-than-ideal conditions at the start of this nonconference matchup, but both teams adjusted to the weather. After a physical, back-and-forth battle throughout much of the first half, the Blue Streaks were the first to find a weakness in the opposing defense.

In the 25th minute of the first half, junior Trent Guy provided the early jump start for the Blue Streaks' offense as he netted his second goal of the season, with the assist coming from junior Brian Potocnik, to give JCU the early 1-0 lead.

While the Blue and Gold continued to build offensive momentum and rhythm throughout the remainder of the first half, they weren't able to punch in another goal, leaving the halftime score in favor of JCU by virtue of its lone goal.

During halftime intermission, the skies above Don Shula Stadium began to clear up, perhaps signaling a positive sign of things to come for the Blue Streaks.

Less than three minutes into the second half, the Blue Streaks scored an insurance goal as senior Nathan Sharbaugh scored via another assist from Potocnik and Thor Eriksen, giving JCU a 2-0 lead. Sharbaugh was at the end of a beatiful sequence in which the streaks tapped three consecutive on target passes to the open man on the right side of the box.

After picking up his second assist of the day, Potocnik decided to jump in on the scoring frenzy.

Two minutes and four seconds after Sharbaugh scored, Potocnik did the same as he picked up his second goal of the season to give JCU a commanding 3-0 lead with 44:56 remaining in the game. Sharbauugh and Mariusz Trzeciak assisted Potocnik on the goal in a combination of passes that mirrored the second goal, except this time, the passes traversed from the right side of the field to the left.
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Even with a comfortable 3-0 lead in hand, the Blue Streaks didn't take their foot off the pedal.

With 29:13 remaining in the game, freshman Justin Miller recorded his first collegiate goal on a breakaway opportunity, easily tapping in the goal on the open net to give the Blue Streaks an impressive 4-0 lead.

The physical play between both teams continued throughout the remainder of the game, but the score stayed the same as the Blue Streaks held on to defeat the Blue Devils by the four-point margin.

With the victory, the Blue and Gold picked up their third consecutive win, and their first this season that was by more than one goal. The four-goal victory marked the largest margin of victory for the Blue Streaks since defeating Marygrove College by a score of 6-1 on Sept. 5, 2012.

The victory also marked John Carroll's second shutout win of the season, and its first at home since October 13, 2012.