LISLE, Ill. - The Benedictine University men's soccer team won for the first time ever in NACC Tournament play, blanking Edgewood 4-0 to reach the semifinals for the second consecutive year.

"I felt we were a bit too casual from the opening whistle and did not deal with the combination of wind and direct play as well as we should have," said head coach Rich Nassif. "This allowed them to take territory from us and create some looks off our mistakes, but we held it together and we created some beautiful scoring chances throughout the match that our guys were efficient with."

Edgewood proved to be the early aggressor, putting together four shots in the opening 15 minutes before Benedictine was able to tally one. The first Benedictine attempt came from Nick Kapetanos and was high in the 16th minute. Edgewood's keeper halted back-to-back attempts before Steve Mack recorded his lone save of the first half for Benedictine.

The host Eagles opened the scoring in the 28th minute when Ante Markotic was able to put a cross past the keeper. Edgar Reyes played the ball through to Kapetanos, who used his speed to position before the cross. Benedictine kept the pressure on for the remainder of the contest, extending the lead in the final moments before halftime. Santiago Beltran poked home a scramble in front of the net from Francisco Delgado.

Benedictine wasted no time in furthering the advantage as Bobby Kostadinov blasted home a ball that was bouncing around in front of the net in the 48th minute. Reyes accounted for the final goal on helpers from Kapetanos and Markotic in the 62nd minute. Benedictine ousted Edgewood after falling to the visitors at home in last season's semifinals, winning for the first time in the fifth ever appearance in the NACC Tournament, which decides the automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

"A great team effort today," said Nassif. "We had a few of our regular starters out for this game and it was nice to see everyone pick their game up. It was very symbolic that we had four different scorers find the back of the net."

Benedictine held a 21-14 edge in shots, posting double digits in each half. Markotic led the way with five while Reyes added four and Kapetanos three. Nine different individuals collected shots for Benedictine, who put forth one of the best team efforts of the season. Mack halted four shots in net.

"We will look to tighten some things up in the back and keep our attacking rhythm in a positive place," added Nassif. "This should be good momentum heading into Wednesday where I know our guys are hungry for a re-match and will step up their performance on an even bigger stage."

Benedictine (11-6-2) travels to second seeded MSOE on Wednesday night for a 6:00 p.m. contest in the semifinals.