Game Vitals

• The Rams held their fifth straight opponent to one or no goals in a game.
• Rams opponents scored a combined four goals in six NCCAA tournament games (regional and national tournament).
• NCU's win is the Rams' first NCCAA Men's Soccer National Championship in school history

Game Recap

• North Central University entered their final game of their 2018 season looking to make program history as they had their eyes set on their first NCCAA National Championship. The Rams continued to rely on their defense throughout much of the first period as they struggled to find many scoring opportunities to start. NCU was finally able to find some separation in the 27th minute as Riley Loukinen, gave the Rams the lead with a beautiful shot that was able to find the back of the net. The Rams had the Knights on their heals struggling to find an answer to their defensive effort, sending the Rams to the break leading 1-0. The second half was much of the same for the Rams as they continued to stifle the Knight's offense. Kaleb Smith added another Ram's goal in the 61st minute to stretch the lead and place NCU in the drivers seat. Kentucky Christian threatened late in the period, but North Central kept the Knights scoreless in the waning minutes of the second half, adding one more goal on a Henry Puchuela direct kick in the 87th minute as the Rams cruised to a 3-0 championship victory. 

Key Performers

• Riley Loukinen - 1 goal
• Kaleb Smith - 1 goal
• Henry Puchuela - 1 goal

Season Recap

• The Rams finish the season as the NCCAA National Champions with a 14-7-2 record. NCU rallied late in the season to give them selves a chance at the championship as they finished the year on a seven game winning streak.The Rams really impressed on the defensive end throughout that stretch of the season as they gave up only 6 goals in those seven games. This season was an impressive one for first year head coach, Brian Li, who helped lead the Rams two their second highest win total in the last five years. The Rams will say goodbye to six seniors; Gabe Hartwig, Danny Williams, Noah Ramsby, Chris Forest, Kaleb Smith, and Ben Spafford. The Rams will hope to replace their leadership, defensive tenacity, and offensive talent next season as they will look to ride their momentum from this Championship run.