Our Pioneers traveled to Naperville, IL as they faced off against North Central for the second time this year. The Pioneers are coming off a win against Elmhurst as they aimed to get revenge from the last contest against North Central. Coming into this game a handful of Pioneers earned conference awards, of which, three players earned CCIW First Team Honors being; Dalton Hubbs, Ben Marcum, and AJ Teague. Alex Madson was awarded CCIW Second Team honors, then Evan Deskins with the CCIW Respect honors.
The First Quarter brought us great energy as the competition level heightened for our Pioneers poised for the task ahead. Transylvania would attack this game like all of their games this season, being through All American and CCIW Offensive Player of the Year Dalton Hubbs. This quarter would be owned by Hubbs as he scored all 3 goals this quarter matching North Central's 3 himself. All of Hubbs's goals came from a terrific solo effort as he would score his 50th goal of the season while providing another hat trick becoming his 12th game of the season with 3 or more goals.
The Second Quarter we saw much of the same as Hubbs would score the first goal of the quarter assisted by Luke Stetter, earning his 7th assist of the season. After facing three straight goals the Pioneers found themselves trailing until Hubs's continued his onslaught yet again scoring his 5th of the game. This was supplemented by the following goal from Tai Stormont who tied the game 6-6 with his 15th goal of the season. After North Central scored one more, CCIW Second Team Alex Madson scored another equalizer as Madson continues to improve with each performance. The Half would end at a fitting 7-7 as each team prepares for an absolute battle in the second half.
The Third Quarter saw the heightening of defense from both sides as the first half of this quarter would run until Transy struck on a man up opportunity. Who else but Hubbs would score on the man up as he earns his 6th of the game. This was then supported by Will Warner scoring to give the Pioneers a one point lead before the quarter ended 9-8.
The Fourth Quarter would see dueling goals, first from North Central then by First-year student Casey Fagan. The theatrics wouldn't end there as Transy would escape an inadvertent penalty allowing them to score off of a Turnover from Will Warner, setting the game at 11-9. Goalie play would be great for Transylvania as Jackson Wilson would stack up 20 saves giving the Pioneers enough cushion to perform. 20 saves would tie Connor Haney in single game saves. Will Warner would score his 3rd goal of the game with 9:15 left in the quarter extending the Pioneer lead by 3. The Senior wouldn't be satisfied there scoring his 4th after a great pass by Tai Stormont, pulling away with a 13-9 lead. Capping this game Dalton Hubbs scored his 7th as North Central desperately tried to double, ending in a Hubbs blow by goal. This goal will end the competition 14-10 in favor of the Pioneers.
Head Coach Logan Otto had this to say after the game:
"This team has been through so much and I am beyond proud of them. They have hit all types of adversity and kept fighting. We knew this team could make a run and we knew they would give everything towards a postseason run. I am so thankful for our staff, our players and everyone at Transy who kept believing in us. I love this team."
The Pioneers will play in the CCIW Championship game this coming Saturday as Illinois Wesleyan will play host to our Pioneers. This game will be held in Bloomington IL as Transy will look to cap CCIW play by punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
