If it was easy, every champion could do it. But as it stands, only four teams since 1984 have gome through the Ohio Athletic Conference men's soccer regular season schedule without a defeat or a tie.
Following tonight's 5-3 victory over Mount Union at Don Shula Stadium, the 2014 Blue Streaks are one game away from joining that exclusive club as its fifth member.
Only Ohio Northern (2012), John Carroll (1993 and 2001) and Otterbein (1998) have achieved that rare feat in the last 30 years.
The Blue Streaks dominated from the start, winning the shot battle 31-5. The Purple Raiders, however, used efficiency to hang around for the entire match.
The Blue Streaks scored twice in the opening 17 minutes and threatened to run away and hide.
Dalton Browsky tallied his sixth goal at the 11:07 mark, and brian Potocnik followed with his team- and league-leading 17th goal at 16:39. Potocnik finished off a three-on-two break started by fellow senior
Liam Switalski, whose thru ball was tracked by
Kevin Pachuta, who launched a perfect cross to the right post.
Mount Union derailed the JCU momentum train when Kevin Blackley scored his fifth goal of the year on a tremendous assist from Colin Combs in the 26th minute.
The two teams then traded body blows the rest of the half.
Justin Miller gave John Carroll a 3-1 lead when he scored off a Jess Marinaro and
Shaq Bridges combo at the 32:29 mark, only to have Jesse Tinney strike from the top of the box less than a minute later for the visitors.
After assisting the previous goal, Marinaro delivered for the Blue Streaks with his third goal of the year in the 36th minute. Marinaro's goal was strikingly similar to Tinney's goal, blasting a shot in open space at the top of the box.
That was the final tally of the first half, as John Carroll took  4-2 lead into the intermission.
Both teams had one tally in the second stanza. Potocnik scored goal number 18 in the 55th minute to push the John Carroll lead up to 5-2, only to have Jack Weber strike a goal off the right post exactly two minutes later for the Purple Raiders.
Despite scoring eight goals combined in the opening 58 minutes, neither team scored over the remaining 22.
John Carroll, which clinched the OAC regular season title with a 3-2 win last Saturday at Capital, improved to 8-0 in league play thanks to a 31-5 shot advantage. The Blue Streaks also won their 12th consecutive game, matching their longest winning streak since 2001.
Mount Union, which fell to 7-10 overall and 1-7 in the OAC, got eight saves from Dylan Lias. The Purple Raiders have not won in University Heights since 1985.
