Marian Knocks Off League Champion Huntington 2-0 in CL Tournament Semifinals

Huntington, Ind. - Just 10 days after watching Huntington University claim the Crossroads League Regular Season Championship on their home pitch, the Marian men's soccer team enacted their revenge plan, knocking out the Foresters from the Crossroads League Tournament with a 2-0 road win in the semifinal round. The Saturday night upset by the Knights sends the team to the CL Tournament Championship, improving their record to 14-3-3.

The Knights were the aggressors early on, taking a shot in the first minute of the match with Matthew Loo ripping the attempt wide. Marian stayed on the attack and earned a 10th minute corner kick, and in the 12th minute jumped on top 1-0 as Wednesday's quarterfinal hero struck again. A poor pass from the keeper within the striking box was intercepted by Loo, who delivered a perfect pass for Samuel Wehaus from straight on goal. Wehaus' shot attempt was saved by the keeper, but Joshua Wessling stayed with the ball, grabbing the rebound and immediately sending it into the goal to give Marian a quick 1-0 lead.

Marian would stay aggressive throughout the remainder of the first half as they managed multiple shot attempts, but were also forced to go on the defensive, as the Foresters aimed a counter attack. Juan Torres made a three saves in a six minute span to keep the clean sheet, as the barrage between the 25th and 31st minutes subsided after the third save. The Knights would go into the half with the 1-0 lead after the offensive attempts subsided, holding an 8-3 edge in shot attempts.

In the second half Marian continued to stay aggressive, putting up seven shot attempts over the final 45 minutes. Yeudiel Sebastian Gonzalez took the first of the seven looks, while Donovan Doolittle fired a blast on goal that was saved in the 65th minute. Torres continued to control the defense and made a save while directing traffic into the 75th minute, and after making his fourth save, the keeper helped set up the offense for a second goal.

Cameron O'Brien fired a pair of shots on goal in the 73rd minute, and in the 77th minute scored the game-clinching goal, getting set up from Gonzalez with a direct touch to the left of the goal. O'Brien fired a left-booted kick at the goal, sliding the ball past the keeper in the right corner pocket to give the Knights a 2-0 lead. The goal would be the final score of the game, as Huntington managed just two shots over the final 12 minutes of play, but with neither on goal, the Knights were able to celebrate as the clock hit zeros as they advanced to the league championship game.

Wessling took three shots in the game and scored the game-winning goal, while O'Brien took a match-high five shots, with four of the attempts going on goal while scoring the team's second goal. Juan Torres earned the win in goal with four saves in the victory, and in total, six other Knights took a shot attempt in addition to the goal scorers.

Marian will play for the Crossroads League Tournament Championship for the first time since 2005, when the Knights won the program's only tournament championship. Kick at Ascension St. Vincent Field against No. 6 seed Spring Arbor will come at 7:00 p.m.

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