Church records 10th shutout of the season to lead No. 20 Men's Soccer past Heidelberg 1-0 in OAC Tournament Semifinals

Mac Church

By Patrick Massara

| Box Score | Tournament Site |

ADA —   In the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals, the No. 20 Ohio Northern men’s soccer team defeated Heidelberg 1-0 Thursday afternoon at the ONU Soccer Field.

The No. 1 seed Polar Bears better their record to 15-3-2 overall while the No. 4 seed Student Princes finish their season at 10-8-2 overall.

The game’s only goal came early in the game at the 1:54 mark when ONU sophomore defender Abrim Mueller ripped a shot from outside of the penalty box on the right side. A Heidelberg defender then headed the ball into the net while trying to clear it away.

The Polar Bears’ defense held strong in the second half as it faced 11 Heidelberg shots.

The Student Princes did not allow a Polar Bear shot in the second half after each team took nine shots in the first half.

Freshman goalkeeper Mac Church had six saves in the match to record his tenth shutout on the season.

“I want to congratulate Mac and the rest of the defense for an amazing effort today,” ONU head coach Brent Ridenour said. “The defense won us the match. We were able to score against a Heidelberg team that does not allow many goals and we look forward to playing in the finals on Saturday for the third time in the past four seasons.”

In the other conference semifinal match, number two-seeded Capital defeated the number three-seeded Baldwin-Wallace 2-1 at home.

The Crusaders won the 2007 and 2008 regular season conference championships and went 7-1-1 in league play this season and for the third consecutive year.

Ohio Northern hosts Capital in the OAC Finals Saturday afternoon at 2 pm at the ONU Soccer Field.