CHICAGO, Ill. – The Carthage College Red Men overcame two one-goal deficits on Saturday at the Holmgren Athletic Center, to comeback and stun the heavily favored Vikings of North Park University, 3-2, in the 2018 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Men's Soccer Championship match.
 
With the win, the Red Men improve to 12-8-1 on the year and earn the CCIW's automatic qualification to the 2018 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship, beginning next week.  #17 North Park, who won the regular season title, falls to 16-3 and will have to await an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The win is the Red Men's third title in four years and fourth in program history.

"North Park is such a strong offensive team that comes at you in waves, and to be 100% honest, you know there is always a chance for them to out-athlete their opponent," said head coach Steve Domin after the win.  "Interestingly enough we had a lot of possession in the first half, and were moving the ball well to keep them out of rhythm.  In all the congratulations, my mind goes to all the games in the league to this point... They are all battles with no days off, and it is evident."

After the Red Men were saved by a header that went off the post in the ninth minute on a North Park set piece, the Vikings connected on a cross at the top of the six that was headed into the ground and past a frozen Niko Mavrogiannis for the 1-0 lead in the tenth minute.
 
"It was certainly frustrating as their opening goal was the thing they needed to settle, but credit our guys for not backing down.  We knew we gifted one to them by leaving a free mark which lead to our keeper essentially not hanging on to a ball he saves 99-out-100 times," said Domin.

The Vikings nearly made it 2-0 moments later, but a blocked header by Kevin Reilly and a kick-save by Mavrogiannis kept it a one-goal Red Men deficit.
 
Carthage would settle in from there and nearly tied the match at 1-1 as a ball from Ivan Esquivel across the face of the goal went untouched and cleared by the Vikings.
 
Carthage had their best chance of the opening period with 15 minutes remaining in the first half as a shot from Adrian Herrera was blocked and fell to Freddy Martinez inside the penalty spot, but a rushed shot was saved by North Park's Mathias Stulen.
 
Carthage eventually broke through in the 36th minute as a Nicholas Messineo cross was handballed down and the Red Men were awarded a penalty kick, which Adrian Herrera put in for his eighth goal of the season.
 
"People forgot how injured we were in the middle portion of season, and frankly still are.  Every guy we plug in seems to come up with their part.  The first time we played them we were without the services of many key players, and that was quiet motivation.  Danny Eloyza and Jerry Patino, back on the field combining with Ivan Esquivel and the rest of our middles helps us keep our shape."

After an early second half scare by the Vikings, the Red Men controlled much of the possession over the first 20 minutes but their best chance, a cross by Kevin Mahoney to the far post, was hit off the outside of the post by Jerry Patino to keep it a 1-1 game. 
 
The Vikings would make the Red Men pay on their ensuing possession.  After building up a possession out of their defensive third, the Red Men slid in late on a tackle in the box and were called for a foul, giving the Vikings a penalty kick, which Shatil Khoury put in for a 2-1 lead in the 67th minute.
 
The Red Men then answered in a hurry, as Kevin Mahoney ripped a deflected by the North Park defense to the lower right post to tie it in the 80th minute.
 
Just seconds later the Red Men cleared the ensuing kickoff and Jerry Patino blocked the clearance by the NPU goalkeeper, Stulen, and tapped it in for the empty net goal and the 3-2 lead.
 
Down the stretch the Red Men defense never broke and turned away chance after chance in the final ten minutes and the Red Men prevailed with the one-goal victory.
 
Domin noted, "The fact that we came back from deficits is a sign of character too.  I think it's really tough for this current team living up to expectations.  Everybody thinks just because we have been to the last four CCIW finals, and in the tournament 15 times, we are going to win them all.  This league, in every sport, is so competitive.  That NPU team is about as strong as I have seen and I have been doing this for a lot of years. Arguably they are better than last year.  The level of player they are getting is extremely high, and that's a credit to John and their program."

For the match, the Red Men were out-shot 19-6 but Carthage limited the North Park's chances and Mavrogiannis came up with five saves in the win.
 
The Red Men will now have to wait until the 2018 Selection show, scheduled for Monday, November 5th at noon via NCAA.com.