By Wes Mayberry
After playing No. 15 North Park (Ill.) to a scoreless draw through regulation and overtime, the No. 11 Ohio Northern men's soccer team prevailed 4-3 on penalty kicks in Sunday's NCAA Division III Tournament second-round game at Kerscher Stadium.
The Polar Bears (13-3-5) now advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament where they will face Williams (Mass.), which defeated top-ranked Messiah (Pa.) in PKs in the second round. Dates, times and locations for third-round games will be announced on Monday afternoon.
The Vikings close their season with a record of 15-3-3.
After advancing past Mt. Aloysius (Pa.) in PKs in Saturday's first-round matchup, Northern found the same result on Sunday.
The Polar Bears out-shot the Vikings by a 14-7 margin in regulation, but both teams played well defensively and in goal.
Senior goalkeeper Josh Ellis (Whitehouse/Anthony Wayne) recorded six saves in 110 minutes of action for ONU, and his Viking counterpart, Sebastianas Uribe, matched that stat line.
Both goalkeepers remained in the game for the penalty kicks, and neither one was able to stop the first three attempts from the other side.
Ellis saved a shot off the foot of William de Carro in the fourth round, and fifth-year senior Bryan Kern (Rocky River) made it 4-for-4 for the Polar Bears.
That set up a must-make for NPU's Christian Vaaland, and his shot ricocheted off the crossbar to secure the win for ONU.
Fifth-year senior Levi King (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central), senior Aaron Shelton (Ortonville, Mich./Brandon) and sophomore William Shaffer (Galena/St. Francis DeSales) were all successful on their PK attempts in rounds 1-3 for ONU.
The Polar Bears out-shot the Vikings 19-9 in the game and finished with a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.
