ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – Caco Fernandez's highlight-reel goal was the difference in Roosevelt's 1-0 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Northern Michigan on Sunday at Morris Field.

The game's only goal came in the final minute of the first half as Roosevelt applied pressure in the Wildcats' end of the field. After Roosevelt (4-1-3, 2-0-1 GLIAC) won a throw-in deep in the zone, Daniel Schaefer fired the throw into the box where Matthew Goulding flicked it onwards with his head.

The ball fell to Fernandez with his back to the goal, and the graduate student somersaulted in the air to strike with a bicycle kick. The ball stayed low enough to evade the Northern Michigan goalkeeper with 51 seconds left in the first half. It was one of four shots on goal Fernandez had in the match as he was a consistent threat for the Lakers in the attacking half.
 

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It was an extremely physical match with the two teams combining for 37 fouls and eight yellow cards. The disjointed early pace favored the Wildcats as they forced two early saves from Eric Carvajal in the first half. Northern Michigan held a 4-2 edge in shots after 45 minutes, but Roosevelt was able to control the game in the second half.

The Lakers outshot the Wildcats 7-4 in the second half and finished with a 4-2 edge in shots on goal. Roosevelt didn't let any of the Wildcats' four shots reach Carvajal in the second half with three going wide of the net and one being blocked.

Roosevelt almost scored a second goal in the first five minutes of the second half with two opportunities being denied. Off a corner kick, Rafael Rios had a screamer blocked with the Lakers calling for a handball as the ball ricocheted off the defender's arm as he was trying to tuck it behind him. The rebound fell to Fernandez, who sent a soaring shot towards the net that the Wildcats keeper needed to punch over the crossbar.

Carvajal needed to make just those two first-half saves to claim his second clean sheet of the season and 15^th of his career. The senior from Arlington Heights now needs just one more shutout to tie the program record for career shutouts. It comes on the heels of Carvajal setting the single-season record last season with seven clean sheets.

UP NEXT: Roosevelt hits the road next weekend for a swing through Michigan, starting with a Friday contest at Davenport at 2 p.m.