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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Jaden Wright vs. Calvin
Pierrendiritu Photography
2
John Carroll JCU (12-5-2, 6-3-0)
3
Winner Ohio Northern ONU (13-3-3, 7-1-1)
John Carroll JCU
(12-5-2, 6-3-0)
2
Final
3
Ohio Northern ONU
(13-3-3, 7-1-1)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
John Carroll JCU 1 1 2
Ohio Northern ONU 1 2 3

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | Gianluca DiGiacomo, Staff Writer

Blue Streaks Fall in Heartbreaking Fashion in Final OAC Chapter

Wenzler’s Warriors Await OAC Seeding for Next Week

ADA, Ohio – In one final Ohio Athletic Conference match, the John Carroll Blue Streaks traveled westbound to take on the Polar Bears of Ohio Northern. In a match that held very important OAC playoff implications for the Blue Streaks, a proper result was crucial, with only the result of a win giving them the highly-coveted #2 seed heading into the tournament next week.

Despite a very well-played match against one of the nation's finest teams, a goal with 70 seconds left would give Ohio Northern a 3-2 victory, securing them a bye week for next week's affairs.

On a chilly, yet sunny afternoon, the Blue Streaks looked ready, willing, and able to stand up to one of their biggest challenges yet in the #22 ranked team in the country. A quiet bus ride and intense warmup gave the team a proper state of mind heading into the first whistle, fans flooding the surrounding areas of the pitch from each side.

The game started at a surprisingly slow pace, both teams not moving with their typical energy straight out of the gate. Passes got sloppy and presses did not look too menacing, but both teams worked diligently to shake off the ring rust. The Blue Streaks began picking up offensively shortly thereafter.

The Blue Streaks saw their first proper chance within 16 minutes, as sophomore Luka Pranjeta struggled to get underneath a ball as the ball was poked away to Izac Coleman. Coleman fired a shot from the left and side of the box on the ground and just skimming across the face of goal. Nicholas Graeca got a shot off of that same nature a few minutes later, this one gobbled up by the keeper Lucas Hickey with a minimum of fuss.

Just 90 seconds after the look from Graeca, the Blue Streaks struck gold. On another buildup from the left hand side, a fifth year connection between Hayden Haffner and Jaden Wright ensued with a great linkup—the finishing touch coming from a ball slipped between defenders from Haffner and a handful of composed touches and a shot slotted past the keeper from Wright. A phenomenal kickstarter from the Blue Streaks, but also play enough to wake the Polar Bears up from their slumber.

The opening goal showed a heavy uptick in offensive urgency immediately afterwards, with Ohio Northern finding a scary response nearly immediately; the winger Gage Foster's efforts on the left hand flank smothered by a rushing Brenden Moher saving the chance with a kick save.

Both teams began pushing the tempo equally—John Carroll getting more concrete chances but the Polar Bears having more possession in their attacking third. The Blue Streaks did very well to attack the wings with Ohio Northern's fullbacks tucking in, and continued laying on the pressure.

With under three minutes remaining in the half, Ohio Northern drew a foul in transition to set up a free kick about 25 yards away from goal. Enter Colin Gottron, the sophomore midfielder from Centerville who checked into the match not long before this. Gottron sent in a lovely free kick, maximizing the amount of visual traffic for Brenden Moher and sending it right over the head of the keeper for an impressive equalizer.

The Blue Streaks kept their composure, and sprinted through the finish line for the last couple of minutes. With under one minute remaining, Deki's Army got one more quality look at the goal off of a corner kick. The initial ball would skid off of the head in the middle before Patrick Bohan got a tap at the back post that fired off of the bottom of the crossbar and cleared away.

Going into the half, the Blue Streaks looked like a very different team from Wednesday, confident in their play but still hungry to close out the game and secure a first-round bye.

The second half began as much of what the first half was with plenty of evenly matched play, and some progression, but nothing considerable on either side of the ball. Much of the Blue Streaks' attempts at long balls were thwarted in the air by the likes of Brenden Gervers and Noah Zebrak in the back.

John Carroll's next highlight came in the 68nd minute, seeing Wright beat Zebrak off the dribble on the left hand flank before squaring it across into the center. The freshman winger Dylan Halm was there, but took a swing and a miss at it, a golden opportunity that Halm was visibly frustrated in himself for a few minutes later.

It did not take long for the first year to redeem himself, however, as in the 72nd minute he linked up with the fifth year Jaden Wright as he carried the ball into the box, took a few touches past defenders and took a lovely finesse shot into the back of the net. As cool and composed as you like and the freshmen had his fifth goal of the season to pull John Carroll ahead with 18 minutes left on the clock.

The Blue Streaks were really running rampant, but not for long as just seven minutes later, the Polar Bears found their equalizer. A few touches off a corner kick lead to the ball being propped nicely at the top of the 18-yard box for Colin Gottron again, lacing a beautiful shot into the top left corner to once again bring the game level.

John Carroll immediately responded a minute later off of a free kick, senior Nicholas Graeca sending one off of the inside of the post. As the sophomore Luka Pranjeta followed it up, the bouncing ball and the angle of his effort lead to the shot being sent over the goal.

Heartbreak struck with a minute and ten seconds remaining, as a progression down the left hand flank opened a path for a through ball from Ryan Sommerfeld to find none other than Colin Gottron once again. Gottron's shot was on frame and tapped in by Daniel Kalic sliding in looking to clear it out, but its trajectory was enough to give him the hat trick.

The Blue Streaks got one more chance with a cross with seconds left, but senior striker Jack Foht was a step behind from getting his head on it, and the Polar Bears blasted it clear to second the victory.

The Blue Streaks fall to 6-3 on the conference, and their plan of action will be determined by a handful of games being played later today.
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