The Case Western Reserve University men's soccer team wrapped up the regular season with a 2-0 win over archrival Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday afternoon at the CMU Soccer Field in Pittsburgh.
With the win, the Spartans end the regular season with a record of 9-3-3 and 3-2-2 in University Athletic Association play, tying for third in the conference standings. The Tartans end their season at 7-6-4 and 0-4-3 in the UAA to place eighth.
Sophomore goalkeeper Bradley Winter tied a single-season program record with his eighth shutout of the season. He recorded two saves to lower his goals against average to 0.47 for 2023. Overall, the Spartans have shut out nine opponents during the season, matching a program record set during the 2018 campaign. Seniors Alex Lippiatt, Josh Cook, and Jad Oglesby played all 90 minutes on the backline, and junior Sawyer Dockal logged 85 minutes on defense to secure the clean sheet.
CWRU struck first in the 40th minute on the fourth goal of the season by senior midfielder Matt Vatne. Vatne and junior forward Kysen Kroeger were in a two-on-one situation just outside of the box. They maneuvered around the defender, and Vatne fired a shot into the low corner and into the back of the net. Kroeger earned his second assist of the season on the play. Vatne, who scored his 17th career goal, moved into a tie for eighth in program history with 52 career points.
Just after halftime, the Spartans doubled their lead with a tally on a set piece. Lippiatt sent a corner kick to the far post, where junior forward Brandon Kim was to head the ball in front of the net. In a scramble for the ball, Dockal pushed the ball past the Tartan goalkeeper for his first career goal. Lippiatt earned his fifth assist of the season, and Kim recorded his third assist on the play.
Winter made saves in the 84th and 88th minutes to secure the clean sheet and win.
Overall, the Spartans held a 9-8 advantage in shots and a 5-2 edge in shots on goal. Kroeger had a team-leading two shots, and seven additional teammates took chances at scoring.
Case Western Reserve, who was ranked fourth in Region VII in the final NCAA Regional Rankings of the regular season, will learn its postseason fate on Monday during the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Selection Show at 2 p.m. The show will be broadcast on ncaa.com with additional information shared on athletics.case.edu and on the CWRU Athletics social media accounts (@caseathletics) when it is available.
