By Caleb Scott

Senior Tommy Troy led the No. 9-ranked Ohio Northern men's soccer team as it defeated Case Western Reserve 1-0 Saturday evening at Kerscher Stadium.

The Polar Bears improve to 7-0-1 overall, while the Spartans fall to 2-2-1.

Junior goalkeeper Dean McNeil earned the victory for Northern and improved to 7-0-1 on the year. 

McNeil posted his 20th career shutout and currently ranks third all-time at Ohio Northern with 20 career shutouts.

Troy scored the lone goal to lead the Polar Bears offensively. 

Northern was able to find the back of the net in the 38th minute as senior Nathan Libertowski found Troy and he capitalized to give ONU the 1-0 lead.

The Polar Bear defense would hold strong in the second half to seal the 1-0 victory.

"We are playing at a very high level defensively right now," said head coach Brent Ridenour. "We were able to hold two great teams to zero points this week and that's very big. This win was a total team effort." 

Case Western out shot the Polar Bears by an 18-16 margin, while Northern won the corner kick battle by a 9-2 margin.

The Polar Bears will return to action Wednesday as they host area-rival Defiance at 7 pm at Kerscher Stadium.