November is here and John Carroll University soccer is still competing.
John Carroll travels to Lynchburg, Virginia for first round action in the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship on November 12. The Lynchburg College Hornets will host the Ohio Athletic Conference champions John Carroll Blue Streaks at 1:00 pm from Shellenberger Field on the Lynchburg College campus.
Official Tournament Website (Links to Live Video, Live Stats and Ticket Information)
The Blue and Gold manufactured a 12-5-3 record during regular season play en route to a regular season and conference titles. It would be the tenth OAC regular season crown in post-season history that got paired with the programs sixth league title. To go along with the team accolades, seven players were named to the All-OAC squad for 2016. Head coach
Hector Marinaro was also named Coach-of-the-Year for the first time in his career.
Goalkeeper
Liam McIntosh brings in the significant title of Goalkeeper-of-the-Year after going undefeated in the conference play. Throughout the season, McIntosh allowed just 16 goals and manufactured seven clean sheets. The net-minder joins
Jesse Marinaro and
Dalton Browsky on the All-OAC first team. Tristian Lyles and
Jake Lombardo received second team honors while
Justin Miller and
Hayden Parente receive honorable mentions.
McIntosh and Lyles will anchor the defense while Browsky, Marinaro, Parente and Miller will make an impact on the offensive side of the ball. Marinaro led the Blue Streaks in all major offensive categories, including points (25), goals (nine) and assists (seven). Parente made an impressive impact as a freshman after he managed to finished second on the team in goals (eight), assists (six) and points (22). Both Parente and Browsky made an impact late in games after each player record three game winning goals.
The seven conference honor winners will lead the Blue Streaks into the team's sixth appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship, all of which have come since 2000. John Carroll will be looking to best the team's deepest run into the postseason which was in 2003 that culminated with a Sweet 16 appearance.
Lynchburg enters national tournament play with a #11 ranking by both the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and d3soccer.com. The Hornets had a perfect 10-0 record when playing at home that accompanied a 17-1-4 record in 2016 and currently hold the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship title for the 15th time in school history.
The Hornets and the Blue Streaks faced off one other time before this national tournament clash. In 2013, John Carroll defeated Lynchburg 1-0, thanks to a goal from All-American Brian Potocnik. Miller,
Tim Delaney, and
Michael Melfi all saw the field in that game as freshmen.
The winner of this first round action will move on to play the winner of Kenyon College and Maryville (TN) College. Kenyon currently holds the title of North Coast Athletic Conference champion and is ranked #5 by both the NSCAA and d3soccer.com. Maryville (TN) boasts a #23 ranking from d3soccer.com after earning the automatic qualifier from the USA South Conference.
John Carroll has the most history with Kenyon out of the three possible opponents. JCU owns a 7-8 all-time record against Kenyon but have won the last four meetings all by shutout. The most recent clash came during the 2012 season when John Carroll won, 1-0.
A second round match will take place on Sunday, Nov. 13 between the two winners of the first round action. The round of 32 match will commence at 1:00 p.m.
