Box Score CLEVELAND, Ohio – Three different players scored as the Case Western Reserve University men's soccer team defeated DePauw University (Ind.), 3-0, in the opening round of the 2011 NCAA Championship Tournament on Saturday evening at Case Field. The Spartans advance to play Ohio Northern University in round two tomorrow at 5:00 p.m.
Case improved to 15-4 for the season and earns the second NCAA Tourney victory in school history (2006 versus Denison University). DePauw's season ends at 16-3-1.
The Spartans broke a scoreless tie in the second half when junior midfielder Eric Erb (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) collected a loose ball in front of the net, and after having several attempts blocked, fired a shot past DePauw goalkeeper Nathan Sprenkel at the 67:24 mark.
The lead grew to 2-0 in the 86th minute when senior forward Vinny Bell (Parma Heights, Ohio/Valley Forge) spun past a defender and nailed a shot from 10 yards out via an assist from freshman forward Patrick O'Day (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior).
O'Day iced the match less than a minute later at 86:36 with a tapper following a throw-in by junior midfielder Kostis Theoharides (Brookline, Mass./Brookline).
For the match, Case outshot DePauw, 19-5, while each team attempted five corner kicks.
In net, senior goalkeeper Ben Yabrow (Marietta, Ga./George Walton Comprehensive) recorded three saves including a fine diving stop on an Alex Johnson header late in the match.
In the first match of the day, Ohio Northern advanced with a 2-0 victory versus Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Ind.). The Polar Bears got goals from Cameron Johnson and Christian Huelsman while holding the Fightin' Engineers to just five shots.
