Chicago, Ill. — On a steamy opening night at Stuart Field, Illinois Tech men's soccer pulled even with North Central College early in the 2nd half, but the Scarlet Hawks couldn't hold off a 2-goal surge by the Cardinals the rest of the way, as the Hawks lost to the Cardinals 3-1 Tuesday night. The Scarlet Hawks took seven of their 10 shots in the second half, but they were not able to connect to cut into their 2nd half deficit.
The Scarlet Hawks are 0-1-0 overall. The Cardinals are 1-0-0 overall.
The Cardinals created the early pressure in the first half, taking three corner kicks in the opening 7:10 and putting attempts from Joseph Sargent and Marco Costabile on frame that
Colin Thomas saved by 18:48. After the Scarlet Hawks absorbed that stretch, Aleks Duncevic converted a penalty kick at 21:51 to put the Cardinals in front 1-0, and Thomas made another save on Sargent at 26:33. The Scarlet Hawks pushed back with shots from
Tomas Rebelatto at 28:37 and 32:47 around a
Dominik Kroupa attempt and a corner kick, but the Scarlet Hawks could not find an equalizer before the Cardinals took the 1-0 lead into halftime.
Cal Graham brought the Scarlet Hawks even at 1-1 with a goal at 49:55 after a Cardinals' goalkeeper misplay, but the Cardinals moved back ahead when Joseph Sargent scored at 52:19. The Scarlet Hawks pushed back with a corner kick and a
Junior Pineda-Alcala shot shortly after, while
Colin Thomas saved Marco Costabile's attempt at 56:11 before the Scarlet Hawks generated chances from Rebelatto and
Theo Balea. The half tightened through a foul-heavy stretch, and the Scarlet Hawks continued to look for an equalizer with shots from Rebelatto and Pineda-Alcala before Sargent scored again at 80:03 to make it 3-1.
Tariq Khan had the final Scarlet Hawks shot at 89:14, and the Cardinals finished off the 3-1 result.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Cal Graham
----------------------
- one goal
- two points
- one shot on goal
Tomas Rebelatto
----------------------
- four shots
Colin Thomas
----------------------
- four saves
- 90:00 in goal
Cardinals Top Performers
Joseph Sargent
----------------------
- 2 goals
- 6 shots, 4 on goal
- 1 game-winning goal
Aleks Duncevic
----------------------
- 1 goal
- 1 shot on goal
- 1-for-1 on penalty kicks
Game Notes:
- Scarlet Hawks men's soccer falls to 0-4 lifetime against the Cardinals.
Up Next
Up next, the Scarlet Hawks host Carthage College on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, at 7 p.m. at Stuart Field.
