Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (Nov. 13, 2021) - The NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament kicked off in Northfield, Minn. on the campus of St. Olaf College, seeing the Loras College men's soccer team (14-6-2, 5-2-1 A-R-C) begin their tournament run against the Cardinals from North Central College. Sophomore forward Reed Miklavcic continued his red-hot postseason, netting two for the Duhawks to advance Loras into the second round where they will face the hosts of St. Olaf College. 

The first goal of the game came early in the first half as senior All-Conference forward Kevin Kucaba sent a pass to Jose Melo, another senior who earned All-Conference honors this week just outside the box. Melo connected with Miklavcic who was sitting in the box and put a head on the ball, rifling it into the back of the net past North Central keeper Sid Marquardt to put Loras up 1-0. 

A mere five minutes later, Kucaba again set up a scoring play as he hunted down a through ball into the box that forced North Central's Marquardt off his line to defend the dangerous pass into the box. Marquardt missed the ball and took Kucaba down in the box, seeing the Duhawks earn a penalty kick for a foul in the box. Head coach Steven McCarthy called on Miklavcic to step up to the dot, taking advantage of the opportunity and putting it past Marquardt again to give the Duhawks a two goal advantage going into the half. 

North Central's offense came out of the half time break ready to attack, testing the Duhawks' defense with 16 total shots in the second half while the Duhawks played a defensive game, taking only three shots in the half. In the closing ten minutes, North Central's pressure saw Sam Abreu pull the Cardinals back within one of the Duhawks with an 82nd minute goal but the effort wasn't enough as the Duhawks fought on to take the 2-1 win. 

Miklavcic's goals being his total to seven on the season with five coming in postseason play as the sophomore attacker has scored a goal in each of the last four games with Saturday's performance being his second two-goal game of the year. In goal, senior All-Conference keeper Connor Fitzpatrick fought off North Central making five saves on the day. 

The Duhawks advance into the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament where they will meet the Oles from St. Olaf College, who took a 3-0 win from Dominican University (Ill.) in their opening round game. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM in Northfield, Minn. on the campus of St. Olaf College.