KENOSHA, Wis. – It took 98 minutes, but the Carthage College Red Men soccer team moved to 6-4-1 and, more importantly, 1-0 in the CCIW, following a dramatic 1-0 overtime win against a very tough 1-10 North Central College team to closeout Saturday's homecoming festivities at Art Keller Field.
 
"Clearly that is one of the best teams we have faced this year.  One-and-nine certainly is deceiving.  Matt Klosterman has done a pretty good job going out and playing some good talent," said head coach Steve Domin following the win.  "They have played a lot of top-10 teams in our region, if not in America, surrendering much the same way in close matches so their record is deceiving and that's why they are where they are at."
 
The Red Men had numerous chances infront of the Cardinals goal but were unable to take advantage of the situations in regulation.  Carthage finished the match outshooting North Central 23-15 and earning a twice as many corners, 10-5.
 
"I felt really good about the first half, owning the ball and owning the stats sheet, but not scoring goals, you always wonder what is going to happen in the next period leaving some opportunities out there," noted Domin.
 
The match's lone goal came with three minutes left in the first overtime period when Filip Dyminski played a long ball in off a free kick to the penalty spot where Johnny Rimkus rose above the Cardinals' defense and flicked a header towards net which deflected off another defender and past the goalkeeper for the golden goal.
 
The goal was Rimkus' team-leading fifth of the season and it was Dyminski's first assist on the year.
 
The Carthage backline of Dyminski, Jake Bukiri, Jamie Tausend and Giles Phillips played strong again turning away most the NCC pressure all night.  Giles Phillips had one of the biggest plays of the night for the Red Men as he chased down a Cardinal forward who had slipped into the box to make a slide tackle and knock away a potential scoring threat.
 
"I think Giles did a really good job all night, but two plays standout, as Giles came from behind and in a sense saved the day when we had some bad giveaways," said Domin.
 
Carthage managed to control the pace thanks to the midfield play of Benjamin Poder, Shane Reilly, Ivan Chavez and Austin Bitta, who each were able to slow the game down while building numerous attacks.
 
"North Central only had a few looks at goal but the wind played a huge factor making the work for Evan Bott difficult," noted Domin.  "Particularly set pieces for [North Central] were very dramatic and he made two saves in the closing minutes that were incredible to keep it scoreless."
 
Carthage freshman goalkeeper Evan Bott made five saves in the tough weather conditions that included rain and strong wind, including two in the 88th minute following a flurry of shots by the Cardinals attack to send the match into extra time. For Bott, it was his second career shutout.
 
"Everyone pours a ton of energy into the first conference game and that is what happened here today… but we are heading up to St. Thomas (Minn.) next and it would be nice to get some other guys into the game and to get some other people healthy as we return to conference-play next Saturday."
 
The Red Men will now hit the road for a three game swing starting with a trip to St. Paul, Minnesota for a non-conference match with the University of St. Thomas, Wednesday at 1:00 P.M.