BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Carthage College men's soccer team salvaged a day for the Red Men and Lady Reds in Bloomington, Illinois on Saturday, earned the only win of the day against Illinois Wesleyan University, 2-1.

"Today I think I got out coached," admitted head coach Steve Domin after the win.  "However it's nice to be on the right side off the win column after playing three or four games which we dominated and lost...Kyle, Illinois Wesleyan's coach, has a unique way of subbing and it caused some issues for us in our rotation in the second half.  He knows what he is doing.  Filip and Michael, my assistants, did a good job sorting it out in the haste...You have to keep in mind they were playing to win a share of the conference title, at home and on senior day."

The win moves the Red Men to 9-6-2 overall and 3-2-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, while IWU falls to 8-5-1 and 3-2-0 in the league.

In the win Carthage senior defender Jamie Tausend made his 75th start for the Red Men in his career, breaking the previous record of 74, which was held by Max Zbilut.  Zbilut suited up for the Red Men from 2003 to 2006.

Despite getting outshot on target 6-5, the Red Men earned a 15-9 overall edge in shots after a dominant first half that saw Carthage outshoot the Titans 8-2 in the first half.

Ivan Esquivel setup the first goal of the game as he drew a foul awarding the Red Men a free kick from 35 yards out.  On the ensuing free kick, Adrian Herrera whipped a cross to the top of the six that Johnny Rimkus headed past a diving Titan keeper for the 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.

"The first half we really owned the possession arrow and probably should have put things away with a third goal.  I don't think they had an earned look at goal, and when they did Brayan was there to cleaning it up...Rimkus and Mahoney's goals were real college goals that wrapped up a lot of combination play in the first half."

The Red Men doubled their lead moments later as Ivan Esquivel drew another foul, this time in the corner.  A quick restart between Esquivel and Herrera sent a ball to Kevin Mahoney on the back post which he headed back across the mouth of the goal, over the goalkeeper, and inside the back post for the 23rd minute goal, which would give the Red Men a 2-0 lead into the half.

Out of the break, the Titans found the momentum to swing in their favor, scoring just a minute into the half off a set piece of their own to cut the Red Men lead to 2-1 in the 46th minute.

"We gifted them a look at goal at the start of the second half and their guy hit it, which then lead to a frantic game pace of ping pong."

Carthage had a number of chances to extend their lead back to two goals but were unable to put the ball in the back of the net to seal the win early.

"My mind goes to Jamie Tausend, Jeff Montemayor and Zach Schofstall's headers which had chances of going in and when Jerry Patino and Ivan put shots on frame but their keeper made the stops.  

With the Titan's continuing to push, the Red Men relied on Brayan Arce Justiniano in goal Saturday as he made five second half saves, including two one-on-one saves to preserve the 2-1 win.

It will be a quick turnaround for the Red Men now, as Carthage will return home for a 1:00 p.m. non-conference game with St. Olaf College at Art Keller Field on Sunday.