ELMHURST, Ill. – The Carthage College men's soccer team stayed unbeaten in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin on Saturday, defeating Elmhurst College on the road, 2-0.
 
The Red Men, now 2-0 in the CCIW, improved to 5-5 on the season, while Elmhurst falls to 1-9 and 0-1 in the league.
 
"It's interesting how the scheduling worked out this year," said head coach Steve Domin.  "We have played two conference-openers in our last two CCIW matches, with Elmhurst's first CCIW game coming tonight.  That always brings a higher energy for them and coupling that with being on the road during homecoming is really odd."
 
Carthage dominated the pace of play most of the night, owning a 24-10 shot advantage and 11-4 on target.  The pressure paid off early, as the Red Men opened the scoring in the 15th minute as a cross by Nicholas Messineo was misplayed and headed in for an own goal by the Elmhurst defense for the 1-0 Red Men lead.
 
The Red Men added an Adrian Herrera penalty kick in the 65th minute after Alberto Eloyza was dragged down in the box off a corner kick to give the Red Men the 2-0 lead.
 
"We have been incredibly bitten by the injury bug this year and grinding through the last few weeks, which has built and challenged our character.  We are hoping we can get healthy, real healthy, in a week or two.  It was nice to get Alberto back on the field for a full match and he was a factor in drawing a PK and drawing defenders… Jerry Patino, and our back line, including our Niko had some key moments to preserve the shutout."
 
Niko Mavrogiannis made four saves on his way to his third clean sheet of the season.
 
The Red Men will return to action with a midweek CCIW matchup next Wednesday, as the Red Men visit 2017 Division III national runner-up North Park University.  Kick-off on October 2nd is set for 7:30 p.m. from Chicago.