CHICAGO, Ill. – The Carthage College men's soccer team had to play down for 83 minutes of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Men's Soccer Tournament Championship match, as the Red Men fell to #8 North Park University 4-0.
 
"We needed to play near flawless today in order to win, especially backed up behind all the injuries we have had," said head coach Steve Domin after the match.  "I have never been so proud of a team in a loss like that.  They poured it on the remainder of the game… Going down a man in the first five minutes, falling behind on a PK, having to play 10 men for 85 minutes on the road was going to be a tall order."
 
The loss drops the Red Men to 13-7-2, while the Vikings improve to 17-1-1 and earn the CCIW's automatic berth into the 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship.
 
The Red Men had to play from behind early as a red card delivered to Niko Mavrogiannis in the seventh minute awarded North Park a penalty kick in the eighth minute.  Replacing Mavrogiannis in a tough position, Brayan Arce Justiniano saved the ensuing penalty kick but the Vikings were able to tap home the rebound for a 1-0 lead over Carthage.
 
Despite being a man down the opportunities still came for Carthage, with Jeff Montemayor nearly tied it a minute a later, playing a man-down, as a shot from 25 yards out and along the sideline, forced a back pedaling save by North Park goalkeeper Mathias Stulen.
 
With the Red Men still trying to find an equalizer, the Vikings were able to capitalize with a counterattack in the 27^th minute, when Gustav Ericsson eluded Alexis Garcia and beat Justiniano to put the Red Men down 2-0, which they would take into the half.
 
Domin noted, "We just kept getting countered after attacks and they spread out their goals making it count."
 
Carthage had a pair of chances to get one back in the second half as Kevin Penarrieta found himself in a one-on-one with Stulen, but the NPU keeper made a sliding save.  On the ensuing corner kick the ball found its way Kevin Reilly on the penalty spot but the crossbar denied the Red Men to keep the Vikings ahead 2-0 after 57 minutes.
 
Playing a man down would catch up to the Red Men late as North Park added goals in the 70^th and 86^th minute to capture their first championship in program history.
 
The Red Men will now have to wait and see if their resume gets them into their third straight NCAA Men's Soccer Championship with an at-large berth, as the Red Men entered the weekend as the number-four team in the United Soccer Coaches Central Region Poll. 
 
"People wrote us off after losing our opening conference game, and playing in this league with a lose is the hardest thing to do.  We quietly went on a great 8 or 10 game run, and to get back to the Conference Championship was a remarkable accomplishment.  There are no moral victories in College sport but today is as close as it gets. The worst part about tonight is we are losing some great seniors.  Jamie Tausend, Sahr Mahoney, Johnny Rimkus, Dan Axtman and Joey Klawitter have been so steady.  I feel like we are losing family members.  We are down but we are not out."