In the books, it goes in as a tie, but for all intents and purposes, it feels like a loss.

The John Carroll men's soccer team, despite an aggressive push in the second half and overtime, had its tournament run end on the same night it began. By virtue of a 4-2 edge in penalty kicks on Thursday night at Don Shula Stadium, the #3 seed Crusaders of Capital University are the team that will advance to the Ohio Athletic Conference championship match on Saturday and face Otterbein University.

With an OAC championship game on the line, both teams came out with a physical nature, setting the tone early for a hard-fought match. 

The Blue Streaks netted the first goal of the game in the 10th minute on a free kick from senior Jesse Marinaro. This marked Marinaro's 11th goal of the season.

Despite Marinaro's goal being the sole score of the first half, both teams were opportunistic through the opening half. The Blue Streaks recorded seven shots, three of which were on goal, while the Crusaders attempted 11 shots, eight of which were on goal and saved by Liam McIntosh.

JCU owned a 6-2 advantage in shots for the second 45 minutes, but it was Capital that found the equalizer despite the low output. The Crusaders evened the score at 1-1 in the 73rd minute as Wesley Coleman found the back of the net for the first time this season, with an assist from Greg Knox on a throw in that went to the far post.

The final 17 minutes yielded no further scores, and neither team could find an opening in the first or second overtime period. The score remained 1-1 heading into a shootout to determine who would avdance.

Capital was true on four of five shots with McIntosh getting one save, while only Jake Lombardo and Dalton Browsky were able to convert a penalty for the Blue Streaks.

The match ended when Jamie Robson gave Capital an insurmountable 4-2 advantage in the fifth round of kicks.

John Carroll will now await to find out if its 15-2-2 season will earn the Blue Streaks an at large bid in the NCAA Division III Tournament this Monday, November 6th at 1:30 pm.