Box Score It was a gift that came with bonus gifts Saturday night for the John Carroll men's soccer team.
The initial gift was a 3-0 victory over Muskingum in the final game of the regular season.
The bonus gifts included a win for the nine-menber senior class, a 13th consecutive victory (fourth longest in the history of the program), an undefeated and untied regular season in the Ohio Athletic Conference (just the fifth time since 1984 that a team has accomplished that feat), and the official ownership of the crown as OAC regular season champs (the first time since 2005).
And then there was the fact that all of this was bundled as part of head coach
Hector Marinaro's 100th win as the Blue Streaks' mentor.
A fairly awesome night given the cold temperatures often accompanied by light snow flurries.
The match itself was decided early on, as the Blue Streaks erupted for three first half goals before the starters called it a night. Senior
Matt Brodman electrified the senior night crowd with an unassisted goal -- his first of the season -- in the 17th minute.Â
Kevin Pachuta then finished off a
Jacob Lombardo pass for a 2-0 lead in the 25th minute.
Perhaps the icing on the cake was the third goal, as the coaches' son,
Jesse Marinaro, finished off a combo feed from senior
Drew Mestelske and sophomore
Colin Curtis to give the Blue Streaks a 3-0 lead in the waning minutes of the opening period.
John Carroll won the battle of shots 26-4 and had a 9-0 edge in corner kicks.
The duo of
Derek Jenkins and
Chris Garbinsky combined on the shutout, as neither keeper had to make a save.
JCU is now 16-3 overall and 9-0 in the OAC. Muskingum's season ends at 5-14, 1-8.
The Blue Streaks will host an OAC Tournament game in the semifinal round on Wednesday, November 5, at 4:00 p.m., against an opponent to be determined.