Elgin, Ill. – Winning their fourth straight CCAC Tournament Championship, #1 seed Judson University held off #3 seeded St. Xavier (9-11), 1-0. The win gives Judson a 13-4-3 overall record and a bye in the first round of the NAIA Region VII Tournament.
Judson did all the scoring they needed in the first half as senior Mark Howlett scored his 13th goal of the year for a 1-0 advantage. Sophomore Jimmy Romano took a pass into the box and pushed it across the box to a running Howlett as Howlett put the ball through the back of the net with force. SXU had the first shot on goal in the match in the 7th minute but JU’s goalie Neil Thompson recorded one of his two saves. SXU took two other shots in the half with one in the 40th minute and then a shot in the 44th minute that went off the crossbar. JU out shot SXU, 6-3.
It was a typical second half for a JU vs. SXU match as each team came out with aggressiveness earning four yellow cards and two red cards. There were 23 combined fouls called in the second half. In the 60
th minute, SXU’s Sinisa Vidakovic had a shot in the box but it was saved by a Judson defender to keep the shutout. In the 64
th and 65
th minute, JU had a chance to put away the match with two shots by Howlett and Milos Bajic but each shot was saved by SXU’s Ian Pickett.
In the 66th minute, things became rough. After a JU foul, the Eagles were setting up a line to block the free kick when all the commotion began. In the line, words were exchanged and SXU’s Alex Duncan was issued a red card. Also, JU’s Andrew Weissman was given his second yellow card as both players were ejected. For the rest of the match, both teams played with 10 players. Just seven minutes later, SXU almost tied the game on a corner kick but the shot was again saved by a JU defender in the box.
Overall, there were 53 combined fouls called with 30 on SXU and 23 on JU. JU out shot SXU, 11-4, but SXU took nine corner kicks to Judson’s three. JU’s Thompson finished with two saves while SXU’s Pickett had five.
Judson will now wait to see who they will play in the semi-final match of the NAIA Region VII Tournament on Monday, November 6th, in Iowa.
NOTES: JU has won five out of the last six CCAC Tournament Championships…Only year they did not win the tournament championship was 2003…JU is now 19-2-3 vs. SXU overall…JU has won the last five meetings vs. SXU…SXU tied JU in 2004, 0-0, in 2 OT but lost the match in a shootout in the NAIA Region VII Tournament…SXU has not defeated JU since 1996 when they won 2-0…Head Coach Steve Burke has now won 13 conference championships and five conference tournament championships…JU has won the last three NAIA Region VII Championships.
