The SVSU men’s soccer team defeated the Northwood University Timberwolves on Sunday, 5-2, in the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament.

Sunday’s game saw the Cards play with a lot of enthusiasm.

After falling behind by a goal early on, the SVSU offense caught fire, scoring five consecutive goals to take a controlling lead.

Coach Cale Wassermann said that the team impressed him by rebounding after trailing early.

“After we gave up the first goal, [the players] showed a lot of character and mental toughness to battle back and be persistent,” he said. “I was really happy with the work and the execution.”

SVSU scored its first goal at the 39:18 mark, with junior Tyler Channell putting the ball in the back of the net on a penalty kick. Senior Craig Neal added another goal less than a minute later to give the team its first lead of the game.

Junior Vaughn Frederick and senior Michael Lamb came out in the second half and quickly added two more goals at the 52:38 and 58:13 marks, respectively. Neal scored his second goal at the 60:39 mark, and the route was on.

“Our guys were awesome today and were extremely focused,” Wassermann said. “It’s impressive to score five [goals] in a game like that.”

Following the victory, the Cardinals will advance to the quarterfinals where they will play the Quincy University Hawks. The Hawks are the top seed in the Midwest region’s portion of the bracket. The game will be played later this week.