Men's Soccer: OAC Tournament Finals - Ohio Northern (13-7-1 Overall) at John Carroll (13-4-1 Overall)
Saturday, November 3, 2018, 7 p.m. - Don Shula Stadium, University Heights, Ohio - OAC Tournament Finals
Saturday's Preview: The fifth-seeded Ohio Northern men's soccer team will battle for its eighth OAC Tournament crown on Saturday night at 7 pm when the Polar Bears travel to University Heights for the finals of the OAC Tournament at second-seeded John Carroll at Don Shula Stadium ... ONU advanced to the 11th final in program history with a thrilling 2-1 double overtime victory at Capital on Friday evening ... Sophomore Beelal Hasan scored both ONU goals, including the match-winner with 51 seconds gone in the second overtime period to lift the fifth-seeded Ohio Northern past the Crusaders ... Hasan scored both of his goals off assists from junior Noah Bachwitz ... Senior William Velotta had five saves in goal for the Polar Bears but came up big in several key spots to keep Ohio Northern in the match ... The match was scheduled for Thursday, but was postponed due to unplayable field conditions at CU ... Ohio Northern has also won OAC Tournament titles in 2006, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15 ... Through 21 matches this season, Hasan leads the Polar Bears with a sophomore school record 15 goals and 36 points, while freshman Levi King paces the team with eight assists ... Hasan is tied for second in shots (77), stands third in goals, is fourth in points and is tied for fourth with six assists among the league's leaders ... John Carroll reached the finals with a 2-1 victory over third-seeded Mount Union on Thursday ... Jarrod McDowell and Chad Kanakkanatt each had goals for the Blue Streaks ... McDowell and Brian Lutz lead JCU with 6 goals each this season ... Liam McIntosh is second in the OAC with a 0.84 GAA this season ... JCU is making its league-leading 18th appearance in the OAC Tournament finals ... John Carroll is 6-11 in 17 previous OAC title matches, winning the crown in 1993, 2000, 03, 05, 07 and 16.
ONU Statistical Leaders:
| Goals | Assists | Points | Saves | GAA (500+ Min.) | ||||||||||||||
| 1. | Hasan | 15 | 1. | King | 8 | 1. | Hasan | 36 | 1. | Lombardo | 47 | 1. | Lombardo | 1.13 | ||||
| 2. | King | 10 | 2. | Hasan | 6 | 2. | King | 28 | 2. | Velotta | 26 | 2. | Velotta | 1.86 | ||||
| 3. | DeNoi | 4 | Bachwitz | 6 | 3. | DeNoi | 13 | 3. | Dunnavant | 1 |
All-Time Series: John Carroll leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 19-14-7 margin ... The Polar Bears hold a 5-2-2 advantage in OAC Tournament play against the Blue Streaks and are undefeated in the last seven matchups ... This will mark the third time in the past four seasons that ONU has faced JCU in the OAC Tournament with the last two matches in 2015 and 2016 going to PKs as 2-2 ties ... ONU won the 2015 shootout 4-3 and JCU won the 2016 battle 4-3 ... Earlier this season, JCU defeated ONU 2-1 on October 13 in the 2018 regular season matchup.
Head Coach Brent Ridenour: Ridenour is currently in his 21st season guiding the Ohio Northern men's soccer program … He owns a 308-122-35 (.700) overall record entering the tournament matchup, which ranks him first in all-time coaching victories at Ohio Northern and in the Ohio Athletic Conference.