Men's Soccer advances to OAC Tournament finals with 5-1 win at John Carroll

By Tim Glon

| Box Score | OAC Tournament Site |

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS -- Ohio Northern advanced to the finals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament with a convincing 5-1 victory over John Carroll Wednesday afternoon at Don Shula Stadium.

The third-seeded Polar Bears improve to 16-5-1, while the second-seeded Blue Streaks end their season at 9-6-3.

Ohio Northern will host fourth-seeded Marietta on Saturday in the OAC Tournament finals. Marietta upset top-seeded Capital 2-1 in overtime in the other semifinal match.

Nate Bascom had a hand in all five Polar Bear goals, scoring twice and dishing out three assists as Ohio Northern advanced to the finals of the OAC Tournament for the second time in the past three seasons.

Northern won the 2006 OAC Tournament and reached the semifinals last fall.

ONUtook an early 1-0 lead just 3:12 into the match when Dustin Connor scored his first goal of the season. He headed the ball in off a throw-in by Bascom for the quick goal.

Bascommade it 2-0 Polar Bears when he scored off an assist by Chet Gapczynski with 35:24 gone in the first half.

The Blue Streaks answered with a goal at the 40:05 mark when Corey Rider scored from 15 yards out off an ONU turnover.

The Polar Bears went up 3-1 with 17:58 left when Bascom scored off a beautiful feed from Chaz McCullah.

Northern put the match out of reach just 52 seconds later when Christian Huelsman scored from point-blank range off a corner kick when Bascom dribbled in from the goal line, fed it to Chris Corrado in front of the net, who then one-touched it to Huelsman, who was left with a wide open net.

ONU tacked on a fifth goal when Bascom fed Adam Ross with 12:17 left to play.

"We are playing our best soccer of the season right now," ONU head coach Brent Ridenour said. "Any time you beat the defending OAC champions on their home field, it is something to be proud of. Our depth was a big factor in the warm temperatures today."

The Polar Bears out-shot JCU 19-13 on the day. Aaron Collins picked up the win in goal for the Polar Bears with four saves.

Saturday's finals will be at 2 pm, unless Ohio Northern also hosts the finals of the OAC Women's Soccer Tournament. In that case, the men's finals will be at Noon and the women's finals will be at 2:30 pm at the ONU Soccer Field.

The second-seeded ONU women's squad will host third-seeded Wilmington in the semifinals Thursday at 2 pm. A Polar Bear win, coupled with a Capital victory over top-seeded and No. 24-ranked Otterbein in the other semifinal match, would send Saturday's finals to Ada.