AURORA, IL - The Benedictine University men's soccer team advanced to the NACC Championship for the second time in program history by knocking off Aurora on the road in the semifinal round.

FINAL SCORE
Benedictine 1, Aurora 0

THE DETAILS
• Benedictine was able to side-step a big stretch midway through the first half when Aurora posted four shots in four minutes, two of which were on target and met by Martin Jimenez-Estrada in net
• Hayden Van Son and Lukasz Sulka, chosen as the NACC Offensive Player of the Week earlier in the day, but had attempts on goal stopped late in the first
• The defense, which has been a staple for the team most of the year, logged a team save to stop a scoring chance in the 67th minute
• Benedictine broke through in the 69th minute
• Aldreiron Smith fed Van Son in the box, who put an attempt off his right foot into the bottom right corner for the only goal of the match
• Jimenez-Estrada stopped four shots in the final 20 minutes including one with the final count on to preserve the win
• Benedictine has played six one-goal games this year including both contests in the conference tournament to this point
• The result turned around a double overtime loss in the regular season meeting
• Benedictine held a 15-13 advantage in shots with Aurora owning a 7-6 edge in attempts on goal
• Jimenez-Estrada recorded six saves in goal
• Benedictine last played for the conference title in 2016, winning the championship at home, also under head coach Attila Schmidt in his first season at the helm
• Benedictine has won at least 10 contests in four consecutive seasons with the victory

UP NEXT
Benedictine (10-7-1) plays for the right to advance to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at Dominican. Kickoff time has been set for 11:00 a.m.