Northwood ends men's season

November 5, 2007 —

by Adam Baudoux

Northwood ended the men's soccer team's postseason hopes on Thursday when Timberwolves forward Ryan Morales broke a 1-1 tie in the 81st minute. Northwood advanced on the 2-1 victory to face Gannon in the championship match, but lost 2-0.

Sophomore forward Brennan MaCMillan put the Cards up early, beating the Wolves' keeper to the ball in the 29th minute. But Northwood tied it up just two minutes later when Wolves midfielder Art Neilson slotted one past senior keeper Eric Carnes in the 31st.

While the Cards may have kept it close early, the second half was dominated by Northwood, who came out of the break swinging for the fences. The Timberwolves outshot the Cards four times over in the second period, logging 16 shots to SVSU's four, and forcing Carnes off of his line three times. Neilson and fellow Northwood midfielders Marvin Hong and Mike Spencer harassed the Cards all afternoon, recording 14 shots combined.

SVSU's biggest offensive threat was sophomore forward Kevin Fox, who played Wolves keeper Kenny Huber off of his line four times throughout the duration of the match. Huber's hand was forced on three of Fox's three shots.

The loss ends the men's season at 11-8-1. Northwood's season ended in Gannon at 9-7-1.

To speak of improvements after 2006's 3-13 season is a given, but what's in store for next year?

There are several indicators that suggest that 2008 may be the men's year to dominate the GLIAC. The most important of which is simply kind of offense that the Cards are attacking teams with: last year, the Cards managed to score an anemic 21 goals, and were placed dead last in nearly every statistical category offensively.

This year, the Cards scored the most goals in the GLIAC: more than Gannon, who won the conference, more than Northwood, and more than last year's champions, Mercyhurst. In all, SVSU put 42 balls in the net, twice as many as last year's figure.

And the goals are coming from everywhere. Freshmen, sophomores, seniors, substitutes...in 2006, seven people scored for the Cardinals all season.

Even more, a solid core of returning players is set to return for the 2008 season. But there are a couple of veterans that SVSU will miss, including scoring powerhouse and senior forward Jimmy Henry, and Carnes, the veteran keeper.

But can the Cards capitalize on 2007's momentum? 2008 will tell us.