2007 Carthage Men’s Soccer Review/2008 Season Outlook

2007 Season Review

The 2007 Carthage College men’s soccer team (14-6-2-) enjoyed a season of “firsts” in 2007, winning its first-ever College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title and qualifying for the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship, also for the first time.  Guided by coach Steve Domin (128-101-18, 13 years), the Red Men clinched a share of the CCIW title by defeating perennial-conference champion Wheaton College (Ill.), 1-0, on Oct. 24 at Wheaton’s Joe Bean Stadium.

Three days later, Carthage won the title, outright, with a 2-1 win at Illinois Wesleyan University.  The victory over the Titans gave the Red Men a 7-0 mark in league play, aided, in part, by a 1-0 forfeit win over Elmhurst College.  The Bluejays defeated Carthage, 3-1, on Oct. 16, but the conference overturned the victory due to Elmhurst using an ineligible player.

Carthage lost to Wheaton (Ill.), 2-1, in the semifinals of the CCIW Men’s Soccer Tournament.  The Thunder went ahead, 1-0, in the first half on an unassisted goal by Joel DeLass at 26:30.  Wheaton (Ill.) made it 2-0 with a second-period penalty-kick goal by Strider Elass at 47:44.  Carthage scored its lone goal at 56:42, that one tallied by Chris Fidlow..

On the basis of its conference championship and strong regional record, the Red Men received an at-large berth to the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship.  Carthage was sent to Wisconsin-Whitewater for a first-round game, but the Red Men fell to No. 20 Washington University (Mo.), 2-1, in that contest.  Washington (Mo.) had a 1-0 halftime lead behind a goal by Nat Zenner at 10:06.  The Bears took a 2-0 lead in the second period on a goal by Eric Hill at 87:07.  The Red Men’s lone goal was scored by Brian Santella at 88:39. 

The Red Men opened the season by playing host to the Carthage “Battle on the Border” at Art Keller Field.  Carthage lost to Calvin College and defeated Buena Vista University in that event.  The Red Men went 5-2-1 over their next eight non-conference games, including two games in the Boston-area in early-September.  Carthage won its first three conference games over Augustana College (Ill.), North Central College and North Park University prior to the Oct. 16 Elmhurst game.

Five Carthage players were named All-CCIW, including two to the first team.  The first-team honorees were forward Brian Santella (Jr. Wauconda, Ill., 11 goals, 4 assists) and defender Pat Walsh (Sr., Carmel, Ind.).  Midfielder Chris Fidlow (Jr., Gurnee, Ill./Mundelein-Carmel Catholic, 3 goals, 9 assists), midfielder/defender Greg Goldsberry (Sr., Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township, 7 goals, 4 assists) and goal keeper Andy Connor (Jr., Lake Zurich, Ill./Mundelein-Carmel Catholic, 8.9 shutouts, 1.05 goals-against average and 6.50 saves per game) earned second-team all-conference honors.  Head coach Steve Domin was named CCIW/Joe Bean “Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year” for the second time.  He also earned the award for the 1996 season. 

Santella was named National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas® second-team All-North Central Region, NSCAA first-team All-Wisconsin and “d3kicks.com” third-team all-region, while both Fidlow and Goldsberry earned NSCAA third-team all-region and second-team all-state honors.  Connor was named NSCAA third-team all-state.