Box Score The Carthage College men's soccer team (14-6-2, 5-1-1 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 23rd in the Nov. 8 National Soccer Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll and third in the Nov. 8 NSCAA Central Region poll, saw its 2011 season end on Friday night, Nov. 11 with a 1-0 loss to Calvin College (16-5-1, ranked fourth in the Nov. 8 NSCAA Central Region poll) in a first-round NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship at the Loras College Rock Bowl in Dubuque, Iowa.  Carthage entered the contest with a seven-game winning streak and a 13-1-2 mark since Sept. 16.
 
No. 12 Loras (17-3-2, ranked second in the Nov. 8 NSCAA North Region poll) blanked Minnesota-Morris (11-5-4), 2-0, in the other first-round game.  Calvin will play Loras in a Saturday, Nov. 12 second-round contest at 6 p.m. In the loss to Calvin, neither team scored in the first half.  “Dominating the first half, 11-4 in shots, and not getting on the scoreboard was the difference in the game,” admitted Carthage coach Steve Domin.  “Having that much run of the play and being tied at half gave Calvin some life.”
 
A shot by the Knights' Mike Sanderson was blocked by Red Men goalkeeper Milan Tijanic at 76:08, but Calvin's Nick Holtrop scored on a header at 76:26 for the game's lone goal.  Carthage out-shot Calvin, 18-12, and the Red Men also had a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.  “I thought we had one more comeback in us,” said Domin.  “We owned most of the statistics, but we were on the wrong side of the most important one.  Calvin has a great tradition in men's soccer, but that didn't faze our boys. We have a classy bunch of kids who bleed Carthage and pull for each other. Despite the result, I'm proud of what we accomplished this year."

Carthage made its second NCAA appearance in 2011.  The 2007 team lost to Washington University (Mo.), 2-1, in a first-round game.