The Aurora University men's soccer team hosted the Falcons from Concordia University Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon for the first round match-up in the 2014 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Men's Soccer Tournament (#NACCsoctrn). A late score by Aurora broke the 0-0 tie and sent AU on to a 1-0 win to advance to the semi-final round.
Play in the first half went back and forth as both the Falcons and Spartans generated multiple chances early on. Concordia seemed to control some of the play and outshot Aurora 9-3 in the opening half. The two Falcon shots on goal were stopped by AU goalkeeper
Zach McFarland who came up huge on these saves. McFarland also prevented some opportunities from developing on a few corners and crosses by CUW.
In the second half, the Spartans looked much better on the offensive side of the field. By controlling the ball, they spent less time defending and also created some good chances in the box.
In the 66th minute, AU sophomore
Mauro Castro took a shot from 25 yards out which beat the Falcon keeper but was just wide enough to hit the goal post. This was the best chance that either team had to this point in the game.
The Spartans continued to pressure and finally broke through in the 81st minute as sophomore
Nick Cataldi fired a shot which was out of reach of the diving Falcon goalkeeper and found the back of the net.
CUW did not quit, though, and has a high quality chance in the Spartan box in the final minute almost sent the game into overtime. AU could not clear the ball and CUW forward Jordan Moehn bicycled the ball toward the AU goal. McFarland had no chance but was bailed out by the goalpost to keep it a 1-0 game. AU cleared the ball and the clock ran out on the Falcons.
For the first time in three seasons, the Spartans advance in the NACC Tournament after having been knocked out in shootouts the last two years.
With the win AU is now 12-4-3 overall and advances to the semi-final round of the 2014 NACC Tournament. The Spartans will play on
Wednesday, November 5 at either #1 Dominican University or #2 Milwaukee School of Engineering. Game time will be determined once the location of the contest is announced.
