PALATINE, ILL. - The first order of business Wednesday afternoon was to make up for this season's lone blemish. The Madison College men's soccer team did just that with a 2-0 defeat of Harper College that avenged a 3-0 loss in Madison from September 14. The win also set up the WolfPack's second order of business, as they are now one-game up on the Hawks and Joliet Junior College in the North Central Community College Conference and Region 4 standings entering the final games of both schedules this weekend. The Pack, who narrowly missed a league title last year as the result of a tie with Harper College, can now clinch its first N4C crown since 2016 with a win next Wednesday, September 12 against Joliet Junior College.

Madison College went ahead 1-0 with a 15' goal from sophomore Caeben Schomber. The midfielder took a pass from fellow second year Evan Thom and buried his eighth goal of the season. The native of Black Earth, Wisconsin, boasts 11 goals in his collegiate career.

The WolfPack clung to the 1-0 lead deep into the second half, when freshmen Tomas Garcia and Gabe Voung connected to give Madison College a two-goal advantage in the 84'. The Voung goal marks his 16th goal of the season, tying the Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, product for the most in all of NJCAA Division III men's soccer. 

Harper College (5-5, 3-2) did post more total shots in the match by a 16-12 margin, and also owned a narrow 10-9 edge in shots on goal. Freshman goalkeeper Phil McCloskey was credited with ten saves, reaching that plateau for the fourth time in a match this fall. The former DeForest Area HS athlete has back-to-back shutouts and four total this season.

Voung led the offensive attack with four shots on goal, while Sam Johnson came off the bench to post two shots on goal. Thom registered three total shots and put one on goal, while also picking up his sixth assist of the season to tie for the team lead in that category. The assist by Garcia is his second.

The decision narrows the all-time series lead to 22-9-3 in favor of Harper College, and also marks the WolfPack first outright victory over the Hawks since 2017. Madison College has reach ten wins for the second consecutive season under head coach Tim Bruner, and it's the 13th time in program history.

Up Next:

Madison College (10-1, 4-1) is back at Irwin A. & Robert D. Goodman Pitch-East on Saturday, October 8 for a non-league matchup with the College of DuPage (5-7). The WolfPack defeated the Chaparrals last season for their first-ever win in the all-time series, which stands at 2-1-1 in favor of COD. Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m., and will be preceded by a Sophomore Day ceremony to recognize the second year players on this year's team. The match can be streamed live at MadisonCollege.tv.

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