Bascom's Hat Trick leads Men's Soccer past No. 17 Wheaton 4-1 in first round of NCAA Tournament

Nate Bascom

By Tim Glon

| Box Score | Tournament Site |

WHEATON, Ill. -- Nate Bascom had his first career hat trick Friday night, leading Ohio Northern past No. 17-ranked Wheaton (Ill.) 4-1 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament at Joe Bean Stadium.

The Polar Bears advance to the second round with a 18-5-1 record, while the Thunder end their season with a 15-4-3 record.

Ohio Northern will face Carroll (Wis.) Saturday night at 7 pm (Eastern Standard Time) at Wheaton. Carroll scored twice in the final 5:35 of the match to rally past Wittenberg 3-2 in the other first round contest earlier Friday evening.

The Polar Bears took a 1-0 lead with 20:37 gone in the match when Nate Bascom knocked in the rebound off a Christian Huelsman shot that was deflected by the Wheaton goalie. The goal was the 14th of the season for Bascom.

Bascom got his 15th goal when he flicked on a free kick from Ryan Smith. His header from 15 yards out beat the Thunder keeper in the high side with 2:30 left in the opening half.

Bascom picked up the hat trick with a beautiful goal from 20 yards out off a fine feed from Chet Gapchinski with 65:50 gone in the match.

He now shares the team and Ohio Athletic Conference lead with teammate Huelsman with 16 goals on the year.

Northern withstood an early onslaught by the Thunder, as Wheaton got off five shots in the first 6:50 of the match. The Thunder out-shot the Polar Bears 23-12 in the match.

"I thought after the first 15 minutes we settled down and played Ohio Northern soccer," ONU head coach brent Ridenour said. "Wheaton came out with a lot of emotion and had a great crowd, but once we got past the first few minutes we played well. Bascom was terrific tonight. Aaron Collins played his best game of the year and our defense was subperb."

But Aaron Collins and the Polar Bear defense played well all night. Collins had eight saves in goal and OAC Defender of the Year Ryan Smith and company held the Thunder at bay throughout the night.

Wheaton got on the board when Tyler Risma scored unassisted with 4:21 left in the match.

Northern ended the scoring with 2.2 seconds left in the match on a goal by Gapchinski.