Three program defining victories all happened on the same date on the calendar: November 12.

Volleyball booked a national quarterfinal date in 1994, Men's Soccer broke through with its first NCAA win in 2003, and Football grabbed national headlines with a significant win against a significant opponent.

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The following is from a Carroll News article written by Randy Loeser

Volleyball

The John Carroll women's volleyball team became the first team in school history to advance to a quarterfinal round of a team-format NCAA Division Ill playoff, defeating both Bluffton College and host school Ohio Northern this past weekend in the Great Lakes Regional Finals.
 
The Lady Streaks (31-7) took the floor Friday night against Bluffton College, a team who earlier in the season defeated John Carroll at the Marietta River City Classic, 9-15, 15-9, 5-15. Despite losing the first game, 11-15, the Streaks dug deep and pulled out three straight wins, 15-8, 19-17, 15-8, behind 20 kills from senior Stacey Mullally and 27 set assists from senior Leslie Mahl. The victory earned them a chance to play Ohio Athletic Conference rival Ohio Northern in the regional finals the following day.
 
The inspired Blue Streaks took the floor Saturday, November 12, against Ohio Northern, a team that had just beaten the Blue Streaks the week before in the OAC Tournament. The Polar Bears were both the OAC regular season and conference tournament champions.
 
The Blue Streaks played a see-saw first game, trailing 6-1 early against the Polar Bears. JCU then rattled off six unanswered points to go up, 7 6. Both teams traded points for the rest of the game, but the Streaks held on to win game one, 16-14.

Game two will arguably go down as one of the greatest ever played in JCU history. Head coach Gretchen Weitbrecht put the win into her own historical context after the game.

"I've never been involved with a win that had so much significance," she said.

Trailing all game, John Carroll was down 14-9, with ONU serving for game point. A JCU kill allowed the Streaks to rally for six consecutive points, pulling ahead 15- 14. Both teams traded serves with ONU gaining a point to knot the score, 15-15. With the shift in momentum back in Carroll's favor, the Blue Streaks scored the final two points for a 17-15 come from behind victory, putting Carroll ahead, two games to none.
 
Weitbrecht's confidence in her team's come-from-behmd character was present all along.

 "When we were down 14-6, I just wanted them to try hard and build some momentum," she said. "But l never felt that match was out of control. When we cut the lead and got into double digits, I felt that we could win it."

Game two seemed to take the fire out of Ohio Northern, as the Streaks took game three and the Great Lakes Regional Final, 15-12.
 
Again, Mahl and Mullally came up big, as Mahl contributed 50 assists and Mullally teamed with sophomore Katy Perrone for 36 kills. The Streaks also received consistent play from junior co-captain Dawn Ebinger and freshman Pam Jimison, who combined for 25 digs in the final.

"We knew what we had to do," said Jimison, who had 10 kills and 38 digs in the two matches.  "When we came back in the second game and cut the lead 10 10-14, all the fears that l had went away. l knew we could win"

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The following was pulled from a press release 
 
Soccer
 
The Blue Streaks were the lowest-seeded team in their portion of the bracket at the beginning of the 2003 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championships, and were forced to hit the road early.

Faced with the possibility of playing three road games over a five-day stretch, John Carroll began the NCAA Championship with a first round match on Wednesday, November 12, at #7 ranked Ohio Wesleyan.

In their history, the Blue Streaks were just 1-5 against the perennial powerhouse Battling Bishops, with only a 2-1 overtime win in 2001 to show for their efforts. Ohio Wesleyan had been to three NCAA title matches, losing in 1990 and 1992 before breaking through for its first national championship in 1998.

It was an NCAA Men's Soccer Championship first round match-up between a team that had never won an NCAA playoff game (John Carroll) and a team that had won a Division III record 47 playoff games (Ohio Wesleyan), and as the contest progressed, the odds seemed to stack even more against the Blue Streaks.  In the 22nd minute, Ohio Athletic Conference goalkeeper of the Year Phil Mansell had to be helped off the field with an undisclosed injury

John Garber finished the final 68 minutes and made one save to preserve the shutout.

The winning goal was tallied in the 60th minute. A goal by sophomore Kevin Pap was all JCU would need in registering a 1-0 upset of the Battling Bishops. It was the Blue Streaks' first NCAA soccer playoff victory in school history.

Pap tallied the only goal of the match when he made an improbable play from the end line. After beating the defender but leaving him an extremely difficult angle to the goal, Pap sent a shot that curled around the keeper and into the opposite upper corner.
 
Following that Wednesday evening win, JCU then pulled off another upset in the second round, beating a Carnegie-Mellon team that was ranked #5 and had lost just one time all year by a 2-1 score. The game was played as the first part of a regional doubleheader at Denison on a Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately, the #14-ranked Blue Streaks were unable to produce a third victory of the week in facing #22-ranked Dominican, losing 2-0 on a Sunday afternoon.
Despite the loss, John Carroll was able to tie the school record (set in 1993) for victories in a season with 17, and advanced the deepest it ever has in the national championship tournament (round of 16). That still stands as John Carroll's deepest advancement in the NCAA Tournament,
      
 

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The following was written by Dale Armbruster

Football
  
The ball was snapped, Anthony Moeglin took a knee and it was over.

For the first time since 1989, John Carroll University football stands alone atop the Ohio Athletic Conference.

The Blue Streaks defeated #1 Mount Union, 31-28, to win the 2016 OAC Championship in Alliance, Ohio on Saturday, Nov. 12.

This marks the fourth title for John Carroll: 1938, 1989, 1994, and now 2016. It is the first JCU win against Mount Union since 1989. John Carroll snaps the 112-game regular season winning streak for the Purple Raiders dating back to Oct. 22, 2005.

William Woods hauled in the go-ahead score, fighting over the goal-line for a 24-yard touchdown with 39 seconds remaining. The John Carroll defense held strong, stopping the Purple Raiders on four straight plays to set up the victory formation.

The fourth quarter featured three lead changes in the final 5:13, including a Dylan Hall fumble recovery, and a Braeden Friss 37-yard pass from Dom Davis.

"It's something that you dream about, and it comes down to the belief we had in each other," head coach Tom Arth told The News-Herald after the game. "I'm just proud of our players."

Moeglin tossed three touchdowns on the afternoon, completing 18-of-33 passes for 239 yards. Woods had four catches for 45 yards. Nico James and Marshall Howell had touchdown catches, from 40 and 3 yards out, respectively.

The nation's fourth-ranked defense forced four Mount Union turnovers, and sacked Davis seven times.

It was a tale of two quarters in the first half, at least defensively. In the first 15 minutes, UMU was stymied by the JCU defensive attack. Davis was consistently harassed, and Mount Union was held to 14 total yards and no first downs.

Golphin sent the JCU faithful to their feet with an 80-yard touchdown run less than five minutes into the game. The extra point went wide right, and John Carroll had a 6-0 lead. Two plays later, Scott Eilerman intercepted Davis, but JCU would not convert. After three shots to the end zone, Matt Danko's kick was blocked and recovered by Austin White.

After a punt by UMU, Golphin set up another score with a 27-yard run. Moeglin cashed in with a three-yard touchdown pass to Marshall Howell with 5:47 left in the quarter.

Just as JCU controlled the pace in the first quarter, Mount Union took back that momentum in the second. The Blue Streaks were held to 17 yards, and UMU cut the halftime lead to 13-7 on a 25-yard TD run by Davis in the waning seconds.

At the half, the Blue Streaks had 201 total yards, compared to 79 for the Purple Raiders. Golphin eclipsed 100 yards with 112 and the touchdown. Ray Brown had a sack and two tackles for loss.

Mount Union converted a fake punt on fourth-and-seven to start the half, and ended the ten play march 65 yards down the field with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Tim Kennedy. John Carroll forced another turnover, as Brown stripped the ball carrier and Tommy Murtaugh smothered the loose ball. UMU held the Blue Streaks off the scoreboard once again on the next drive.

The Purple Raiders extended the lead to 21-13 on their next possession, as Davis found Hill on a 20-yard pass in the back of the end zone. The Blue Streaks fired back, as Nico James outran the secondary on a 40-yard score.

JCU took the lead with 5:13 to go, as Reese Armstrong strip-sacked Davis, and Dylan Hall rumbled 45 yards into the Mount Union student section. The two-point conversion failed, and John Carroll held a slim 25-21 lead.

The Purple Raiders seemed to take the air out the Blue Streaks with 3:30 to go, as Friss made a lunging catch in the front corner of the end zone.

On third-and-12 from UMU 24, Woods slipped free and caught a pass near the numbers and fought forward for the score. The JCU sideline erupted, as the Blue Streaks took the lead for good.

After four stops, a victory formation set off the largest JCU football celebration in nearly three decades.