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For the first time since 2013, the Ohio Dominican Men's Soccer team has punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers will play the Cedarville Yellow Jackets for the fourth time this calendar year when they travel to Indianapolis, Indiana this Wednesday. Both teams found out the fate of their postseason plans Monday night during the NCAA Division II selection show.
The Black & Gold had a stellar year to their Great Midwest Athletic Conference campaign, finishing with a record of 11-6-3. Led by senior captains Jaxson Szabo and River Allbaugh, the Panthers clawed their way through two ranked opponents in Cedarville and Walsh University winning 2-1, and 3-1 respectively. The Panthers found themselves ranked 14th in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches poll, before falling to the Yellow Jackets 1-0 in Cedarville, Ohio.
Cedarville is no stranger to the Panthers, however, with the teams meeting three times previously; Twice in the regular season and the most recent time in the GMAC Semifinals where forward Shingai Nindi scored the lone goal to lift Ohio Dominican to the GMAC Championship. ODU would go on to lose the final by a score of 2-1 to the Lake Erie College Storm.
Both ODU and Cedarville were well represented with Conference awards, with Szabo winning Defender of the Year and Yellow Jacket netminder Jared Zacharias taking home Goalkeeper of the Year. Szabo was also awarded GMAC First Team honors with Nindi and sophomore midfielder Griffin Cook.
The first-round game is set for Thursday, November 18 at 1 P