McLean County Times

After suffering its second loss of the season, the Illinois Wesleyan University men's soccer team is aiming for two more victories to conclude the regular season. The Titans will face Carroll University in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin matchup on Saturday, October 26. The game is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m., following the women's soccer game at 1 p.m.

The match will also serve as Senior Day for IWU's men's soccer team. The Titans will honor seven seniors: Mush Bakirdan, Treyson Bixby, Justin Bruso, Devyn Kennedy, Will McNulty, Declan Nugent, and Logan Shumaker. Collectively, these seniors have contributed 11 goals, 17 assists, and logged 12,595 minutes during their time with the team. They were instrumental in securing the program's first CCIW Tournament Championship in 2023 and participated in IWU's inaugural NCAA Tournament appearance.

IWU enters Saturday's contest with a record of 9-2-3 overall and a conference record of 3-2-1. In their latest outing on Wednesday, October 23, they faced North Central and were defeated by a score of 2-1. Junior Logan Tierney scored IWU's only goal with an assist from junior Kalabi Kamau.

With two conference losses each, IWU is tied for fourth place with North Central as both teams vie for a spot in the CCIW tournament. The top six teams in the conference will compete for the championship title; Wheaton, Carroll, and North Park have already secured their spots.

Carroll University holds an overall record of 8-4-4 and a conference record of 4-2-1. Recently, they experienced two consecutive losses against Wheaton and North Park.

IWU's starting junior goalkeeper Sam Kedzior ranks second in the conference for goals against average (.803) and save percentage (.833). He shares first place in shutouts per game with North Park's goalie Ludvig Almborg at .500.