MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- North Central University (NCU) men's soccer hosted the Crown College (CC) Storm on Monday afternoon at Elliot Park Field for the first round of the consolation UMAC postseason tournament. In thrilling fashion, the Rams put 11 goals in the back of the net, their highest count since NCU join the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference in 2009. The afternoon was highlighted by Elliott Lebsack (Kearney, NE, Kearney High School) and Weston Buckley (Budapest, HU, International Christian School of Budapest) who both managed to record a hat trick of their own in the affair.

Game Vitals

• The Rams recorded 11 goals, their highest count in the UMAC era.
• Elliott Lebsack  recorded an astounding four goals and one assist in the matchup, the best performance of the sophomore's career thus far.
• Weston Buckley followed suit by tallying a hat trick of his own with three goals. Buckley also managed two assists.

Game Recap

The Rams found a long-awaited offensive explosion on Monday. Starting off the game for the Rams on the attack was Elliott Lebsack, who scored unassisted early on at the 4 minute-mark in the first half to put NCU up one to zero. Following up with a pair of goals of his own at the 10 and 27 minute-marks was Lars Brekhus (Prior Lake, MN, Prior Lake High School), each of which were assisted on by Jerad Buse (Kearney, NE, Kearney High School) and Lebsack. After going up four goals, the Storm responded with two of their own before the first half was over, bring the score four to two.

The second half of the game was largely dominated by North Central and their ability to put on a firework display offensively. With a total of 12 shots on goal, the Rams converted on seven of them. Jerad Buse recorded a goal of his own at the 79th minute, while Rodrigo De Mendoza (Panama City, Panama, Crossroads Christian Academy) joined in by chipping one in late in the game at 85 minutes. NCU dominated the time of possession in the game which the Rams took advantage of and executed on, leading to a final score of 11 to three.

Looking Ahead 

North Cental men's soccer now officially advances to the next round of the UMAC consolation playoffs. Next up for the team is a matchup with the Knights of Martin Luther College this coming Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. To view Martin Luther's COVID-19 policy on fan attendance for the upcoming game, please click here. Fans are encouraged to stay posted to all official NCU Rams social media feeds (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for upcoming game information, such as live video and statistics.