The Carthage College men's soccer team (3-2-0, 0-0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) concluded play at the Willamette University "Northwestern Valley Classic" on Sunday, Sept. 8 with a 2-1 over Whitman College (0-3-1) at Willamette College's Sparks Field in Salem, Ore.  The Red Men opened the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 7 with a 2-0 loss to Willamette (3-0-0).  The Bearcats were ranked seventh in the Sept. 3 National Soccer Coaches Association of America West Region poll.

Carthage took a 1-0 lead at 13:06 on an unassisted goal by Alexander Marquis (Jr., Caracas, Venezuela).  Whitman tied the game, 1-1, ay 76:31 when Alex Barsher scored, assisted by Junpei Tsuji.  The Red Men's Mike Heika (Sr., Inverness, Ill./Palatine-Fremd) scored the game-winning goal, unassisted, at 87:46.

"It's so hard to win on the road," said Carthage coach Steve Domin.  "I was pleasantly surprised at how well we looked in the first half, especially following an emotional game yesterday.  Stefano Dolomas is really building a role for himself with his ability to break defenders, and once again, we were buzzing the goal all day.  If we put setters away early, we win this one by a handful going away.  We played the bench at stretches and lost a little shape, but Mike Heika came up big for us before heading to the airport.  We are still giving teams a couple of self imposed give-a-ways which seems to lead to dangerous moments.  We'll clean that up."

Carthage travels to De Pere, Wis., on Wednesday, Sept. 11 for a 7 p.m. game with St. Norbert College (1-2-0) at Donald J. Schneider Stadium.