Men's Sectional Previews: Midwest

By D3soccer.com Contributor

Third Round - Friday

Quarterfinals - Saturday

Sectional Final, 3:00 pm CT

How they reached the Sweet 16

2019 Statistical Overview

Ohio Wesleyan Season Review

Consider this season a return to prominence for Ohio Wesleyan. From 2005 to 2015, OWU went an average of 18-3-2, never missed the NCAA tournament, reached three Final Fours (winning the 2011 title), and took two other trips to the Sweet 16. From 2016 to 2018, the Battling Bishops averaged 12-5-2, with two first-round NCAA exits and last year’s tournament absence. Expectations were higher this year with almost the entire roster returning, but things started with a dud, as OWU lost to Kalamazoo 1-0 despite a 27-8 shot advantage. They earned some redemption by beating Calvin the following evening, but the Bishops’ inability to score would plague them throughout the season. That opening weekend foreshadowed an up-and-down September where OWU would alternate good performances (a 4-1 win over NCAA participant Colorado College) with bad ones (a 1-0 home loss to Otterbein).

But the Bishops found their footing in a 1-0 win at John Carroll and rolled into their annual NCAC slugfest with Kenyon on the back of four straight shutouts. OWU controlled the second half but failed to take advantage, with the game ending in a 1-1 stalemate, then blew a chance at the conference crown when the offense went missing in a 1-0 loss at Wabash. The Bishops’ defense was proving good enough to keep them in any game, but the offense had a tendency to go cold for halves or full games at inopportune times. OWU managed to avenge that loss in a tight conference semifinal, setting up a rematch at Kenyon in the NCAC final. OWU outplayed the hosts in the first half and took a deserved 1-0 lead, but Kenyon stormed back to win 2-1 after dictating play for most of the second. Despite that disappointment, OWU’s non-conference performance made an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament a foregone conclusion.

The Committee didn’t do OWU any favors, sending the Bishops to play at Hope in the opening round. The Flying Dutchmen rode the home crowd to control the midfield early, but Hope’s end product was lacking the entire game. That set the stage for OWU to seize momentum in the second half, as left back Ryan Huelsman smashed a volley from the top of the box with 15 minutes left. Hope was reeling, and Hector Gomez delivered a knockout blow by dribbling by six different players and slotting home just three minutes later. A powerhouse matchup with Chicago beckoned, and again OWU ceded the midfield throughout the first half. Chicago outshot the Bishops 6-1 in the first half, but neither team created a chance of note until a scramble in the box gave Chicago the lead off the rebound just two minutes before halftime. Whatever the coaching staff did at halftime worked, though, as OWU again built up a head of steam in the second stanza. Gomez drew the Bishops level on a penalty kick with 25 to play, then assisted senior Adam Yingling to put them in front with just 10 minutes to go. Sophomore Dom Calabrese notched an insurance goal in the 89th minute, and despite some last-minute fireworks (including a Chicago red card), OWU managed to punch its ticket to the Sweet 16.

Luther Season Review

Luther had an incredible 2018 season, going 19-4-1 and reaching the Elite 8. But the 2019 edition returned only four starters, so you could have excused the Norse for taking a step back. Chris Garcia-Prats’s squad had other ideas. The Norse challenged themselves early, with a strong 3-2 win over St. Thomas offset by a disappointing 3-0 loss at Colorado College. Luther then won a series of tight September games to get to 6-1-1 heading into conference play. But the American Rivers Conference was incredibly deep this year, and Central snapped an eight-game head-to-head losing streak by knocking off the Norse 2-1 to open conference play, a win that would propel the Dutch to the ARC title.

Luther rebounded with a couple easy wins and then made a statement in a 3-1 victory over Loras, holding the Duhawks to just seven shots in the process. A letdown immediately followed in a 2-1 loss to Simpson, but Luther quickly rebounded with four straight blowouts, each by shutout, putting the Norse back in contention for the conference crown. But Luther’s offense went cold in the regular-season finale against Wartburg in a 1-0 defeat, dropping the Norse to fifth in the ARC’s final standings and forcing them to play a conference quarterfinal against Dubuque. While Luther had hammered Dubuque 3-0 in their regular-season meeting, the Spartans turned the tables and took a 2-1 with just 11 minutes to play. But Luther’s big guns would have none of it, with Marcos Vila leveling the match a minute later and leading scorer Ben Keller tallying the game-winner with just 15 seconds left in double overtime. Luther took the momentum from that scare on the road to Central and put together its most complete game of the season, bossing the game from start (a fourth-minute goal) to finish (an 89th-minute capper) in a 3-0 win. Not to be denied, Luther then came from behind to complete a double of Loras in a 2-1 win, with Vila and Keller again the goalscoring heroes.

Luther received its just reward for that late-season surge with a first-round matchup with Principia. The first half was fairly even on the stat sheet, but Luther took the lead midway through on a strike from Ben Sizelove. The second half was a different story, as Keller scored just 61 seconds in and headed in Luther’s third to put the game to bed with 25 minutes to go. The NCAA Committee had set up a potential third meeting between Luther and Central, but Wisconsin-Superior shocked the Dutch with a last-gasp goal to set up a different regular-season rematch. Luther had destroyed the Yellowjackets 4-0 back in October, and this tilt looked to be more of the same when the Norse took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. But what looked like a smooth ride took a sharp turn when the Norse picked up a red card late in the first half. Down a man, and with the field a mess of mud, Luther shifted gears and ceded possession to the Yellowjackets. The change in tactics worked, as Luther picked off UW-Superior again and again and had numerous chances to put the game to bed. The lack of an insurance goal almost came back to haunt the Norse, as UW-Superior tied the game on a header with just four minutes to go. The stalemate lasted through both overtimes, and the teams had to wait for some field maintenance just to give the players a chance to shoot their penalty kicks without slipping. It worked, at least as Luther was concerned. The Norse made all four penalties and goalkeeper Carson Davenport stoned UW-Superior twice to send Luther to the NCAA’s second weekend for the second straight year.

Calvin Season Review

To repeat a line used in both last year’s and 2017’s Sectional previews: “Calvin plays a strong non-conference schedule, then steamrolls the MIAA before making a deep tournament run. Sound familiar?” Yes, it does. Calvin is making its fifth straight Sweet 16 appearance, and three of those other four trips ended in Final Fours. Programs at that level generally reload, rather than rebuild, but Ryan Souders had some holes to fill in his squad after the 2018 team finished as national runners-up. Calvin lost 3-time D3soccer.com Defender of the Year Trent Vegter, All-American Bobby McCaw (and his 21 goals and 12 assists), and 2017 All-American Jacob Witte (and his 17 goals and 8 assists). Still—and to emphasize just how strong last year’s team was—Calvin returned several other starters, and two more All-Americans in Jacob Lyon and Ian Adams.

Calvin opened with a tight 2-1 win over Illinois Wesleyan and its near-annual early matchup with Ohio Wesleyan. While the Knights fell short in that matchup with OWU, the offense clicked into gear late in that game and kept rolling, scoring multiple goals in 15 straight games. Highlights included a 3-0 drubbing at NCAA participant Ohio Northern and a 2-1 win over Chicago, with the Knights handing the Maroons their only loss of the regular season. While the results seemed like same-old Calvin, things were not quite as smooth as the last few regular seasons. The Knights had to come from behind to squeeze by a Wooster team that was 1-5 at the time and finished seventh in the NCAC. And the defense forgot how to shut out opponents, putting up only three goose eggs in the first 14 games. These are minor quibbles, given that the Knights ended the regular season with five straight shutouts and the loss to OWU remained the only blemish the whole season. Having wrapped up the MIAA regular-season title, Calvin faced a rematch against archrival Hope for the tournament championship. As entertaining as games between those squads usually are, Hope managed to stifle Calvin and keep the game scoreless through 110 minutes, despite not putting a single shot on Calvin’s goal. Keeper Chris Morrish was the hero during the shootout, saving two penalties as Calvin came from behind to clinch the win with Olson, the MIAA Player of the Year, converting the winner.

As a top seed, Calvin got to host, but homefield advantage nearly backfired, as conditions muddied the Knights’ field to the point where it was nearly unplayable. The playing surface and a stubborn UW-Whitewater defense made Calvin work for it, with the only breakthrough coming via an own-goal after a long throw-in in a narrow 1-0 win. St. Norbert’s shootout win over Ohio Northern later Friday night destroyed the field, forcing the teams to play their second-round matchup at nearby Grand Rapids Christian High School. Not ideal, but the turf worked wonders for Calvin’s offense. Olson scored in the sixth minute and sophomore Sam Twigg bagged a brace over the next 25 minutes. St. Norbert pulled one back late in the first half, but Calvin kept its composure throughout the second half and kept St. Norbert at bay to close out a 3-1 win and another Sweet 16 berth.

North Park Season Review

North Park entered the 2019 season with something to prove. The Vikings were national runners-up in 2017 and returned a wealth of talent in 2018. But a weak strength-of-schedule left North Park on the wrong side of the 2018 NCAA bubble after the Vikings fell to Carthage in the CCIW title game. That disappointing end could have been compounded when Coach John Born took over the role of Athletic Director at North Park, but associate head coach Kris Grahn took over and put together another strong squad. North Park rosters a number of international students, often resulting in above-average turnover, but the Vikings were able to offset the loss of a few all-conference players by welcoming back two others in Gianfranco DeCarne and Gustav Ericsson.

Led by four goals from 2018 D3soccer.com All-American marksman Peder Olsen, North Park opened the season with an eye-popping 8-0 win over Albion. The Vikings quickly returned to Earth, though, as Chicago suffocated North Park for 90 minutes in a 3-1 win. Much like Ohio Wesleyan, North Park’s non-conference was marked by highs (wins over NCAA participants Dominican and Hope) and lows (losses to NCAA participants Rowan and Kalamazoo). The good news for the Vikings, despite a number of blemishes, was that the tough non-conference schedule gave the Vikings a shot at an at-large bid. The bad news was that North Park suffered an early setback in the CCIW by losing 3-2 at Carthage, giving them no margin for error. The Vikings responded with five straight wins, but a disappointing draw in the regular season finale against rival Wheaton put some pressure on North Park to win the CCIW tournament’s automatic NCAA bid. But NPU handled Elmhurst 2-0 in a chippy contest and recovered from conceding a first-minute goal in the title game to comprehensively top Illinois Wesleyan 3-1.

North Park played host to Pacific Lutheran in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The Vikings scored just three minutes in and seemed to be on cruise control, but the Lutes pulled even early in the second half. That goal shocked North Park into life and the Vikings scored three times over the next 15 minutes, adding two more in the last five minutes for a 6-1 final. That set up a tense second-round matchup against a dangerous Gustavus Adolphus team that stymied North Park for the better part of 110 minutes. DeCarne scored 20 minutes in and that looked like it would be enough, but the Gusties scored on a header in the 88th minute and held off a North Park push in overtime to send the game to a shootout. While players all over the tournament were missing penalties left and right Sunday, the first nine shooters in Chicago kept their nerve, with North Park up 5-4. Up stepped the nation’s third-leading scorer in Cole Schwartz, but backup goalkeeper Edin Sabovic used every inch of his 6-foot-5-inch frame to produce a kick save and set up a Sweet 16 showdown with Calvin.

(Thank you to North Park play-by-play analyst Greg Sager, whose game recaps helped with this season recap. Tune in Friday and Saturday for North Park’s high-quality video stream of all three games in this Sectional.)

Head Coaches

Seniors' 4-year Record (through Nov. 17)

Players to Watch

Ohio Wesleyan: #2 M Brady Whittekind (Sr.) - 9g, 2a | #7 M Hector Gomez - 3g, 11a | #5 D Joe Brush (Sr.) - 2g, 0a | #17 F Adam Yingling (Sr.) - 7g, 2a | #00 GK J.P. Baughman (Sr.) - .871 Sv%, 0.48 GAA

Luther: #9 F Ben Keller (Sr.) - 16g, 13a | #10 F Marcos Vila (So.) - 13g, 7a | #6 D Harry Merz (Sr.) - 1g, 1a | #8 M Colin Hughes (Sr.) - 7g, 8a | #32 M Marc-Arthur Shapiro (Jr.) - 4g, 5a

Calvin: #7 M Hunter Olson (Sr.) - 15g, 7a | #12 F Ian Adams (Sr.) - 7g, 17a | #20 M Jacob Lyon (Sr.) - 3g, 1a | #2 D Drew Van Andel (Jr.) - 4g, 3a | #23 F Sam Twigg (So.) - 14g, 13a

North Park: #30 M Peder Olsen (Jr.) - 19g, 8a | #21 M Gianfranco DeCarne (Jr.) - 7g, 10a | #13 D Angel Barriga (So.) - 0g, 8a | #20 M Erlend Kemkers (Jr.) - 2g, 3a | #22 F William Sandkvist (Fr.) - 9g, 4a

Tournament Re-Matches

Neither first-round game features a rematch of the regular season. If they both advance, OWU and Calvin would face off for the fourth time in the NCAA tournament since 2011. OWU outplayed Calvin for the first 60 minutes of the teams’ meeting this August, but only managed a 1-0 lead. Calvin then dominated the closing stages, pushing the Bishops deeper and deeper into their own end before evening the score with four minutes to go. Calvin nearly won the game twice in extra time, but Whittekind headed home a corner with no time remaining in the first overtime to give OWU the win. The game saw 34 shots, 16 on goal, setting the stage for a lively potential rematch.

Why they will advance to the Final Four

Ohio Wesleyan: Jay Martin has reached nine Final Fours in 43 years--about once every five years--and OWU’s last trip to the Final Four was in 2014. You do the math. Defense is often the most important aspect of postseason play, and OWU boasts the stingiest back line in the Sectional. The Bishops have also played more top-25 opponents than the other three teams combined, and that comfort against elite competition sees them come flying out of the blocks against Luther. The Norse struggle to cope with the step up in competition, and Gomez’s goalscoring run continues in a 2-0 win. The Bishops then either repeat their August performance against Calvin or wear down a North Park team that has been using only two field substitutes in recent games.

Luther: Teams usually have to get close before they get over the hump, and Luther was just an overtime away from a penalty shootout for a trip to Greensboro in 2018. That type of experience hardens a team, and Luther enters the weekend with a singular focus. The Norse have the stronger offense and a proven difference-maker in Keller, who has the size and skill to match OWU’s backline. He overpowers them for the first goal and creates chaos for strike partner Vila to fire home the second, leaving OWU’s oft-sputtering offense too much to do in the second half. Riding the momentum of last weekend’s undermanned win and Friday’s controlled performance, Luther again strikes early against either Calvin or North Park. The Norse have less possession, but Davenport and Merz hold the line long enough for Luther to add an insurance goal late in another 2-0 win to advance to the Final Four.

Calvin: This team is on a mission to win that elusive title. Combine that hunger with talent and speed and mix-in the experience the senior leadership brings, and Calvin might be favored over any team not named Tufts. North Park is no slouch, of course, and an early surge boosted by the home crowd helps the Vikings to an early lead. But North Park tires as the game wears on and Calvin gets into its possession game. The Knights pull level just before halftime and dominate the second half en route to a 3-1 victory. In the Elite 8, Calvin uses the formula it found in the late stages of August’s matchup to overcome OWU, or else overpowers Luther behind a stellar midfield performance from Olson and Lyon to reach its fourth Final Four in five years.

North Park: Calvin is experienced but North Park has tasted the Final Four recently too, and the Vikings are peaking at the right time and have homefield advantage to boot. Players win you games, and North Park’s midfield outplays Calvin’s in the opening 45 minutes as the Vikings race to a 2-0 lead. Few teams shut out Calvin and the Knights pull one back, but North Park’s back line has been building all year to a performance like this, and the Vikings withstand a late charge to reach the Elite 8. Once there, the Vikings see much more of the ball against either OWU or Luther as Olsen continues to pull the strings. North Park actually goes behind in this one, but continues forcing the issue for a late equalizer before taking the game, and securing a spot in the Final Four, on a golden goal.

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