Something had to give on Saturday night.
 
The John Carroll University men's soccer team had not lost an OAC opener since 2009. The Blue Streaks had not beaten the Polar Bears since 2007.
 
John Carroll (8-3, 1-0 OAC) continued to play lights out posting a 2-0 victory over Ohio Northern (7-4, 0-1 OAC) inside Don Shula Stadium in a chilly night. The win ran JCU's win streak to five matches with the last three coming via shutout.
 
"The guys played unbelievably," said head coach Hector Marinaro. "It was great to watch. They came out and stuck to our game plan. They played John Carroll soccer. I'm so proud of the guys and so happy for them for this win."
 
Senior Brian Potocnik scored the game's first goal. He slid in his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 20th minute.
 
Said Marinaro, "Brian really stepped up his game tonight. You could see he wanted it bad. That's why he's our captain. Brian and Trent kind of really led us out there."
 
The Aurora, Ohio native would have a hand in JCU's second goal of the night as well.
 
The senior fed Karol Boryka for the night's second goal in the 75th minute to make it 2-0. The senior beat ONU goalkeeper sailing the shot into the top right corner of the net.
 
Potocnik nearly had his second goal of the night with 17 minutes remaining. Dalton Browsky set up the play jumping over a Polar Bear defender. However, ONU recovered to prevent Potocnik from getting off a clean shot.
 
JCU nearly knocked in a header with ONU goalkeeper Dean McNeil playing aggressive and up from the net. The Polar Bear defense stepped in and was able to clear the ball out.
 
Looking for the equalizer the Polar Bears had to key opportunities. However, Ohio Northern was unable to take care of the cross with it squirting all of the way through.
 
Derek Jenkins finished with three saves to keep his sheet clean for the third straight game. As a team John Carroll finished with a 17-11 advantage on shots.
 
John Carroll will be back in action on Wednesday, Oct. 8 with a 7 p.m. contest at Otterbein.