UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The No. 18 ranked and top-seeded Saginaw Valley State University men's soccer team defeated crosstown rival Northwood University 3-0 in the 2012 GLIAC Men's Soccer Tournament Semifinals today (Nov. 2) at the SVSU Soccer Complex.

The Cardinals entered this highly anticipated postseason matchup ready to play as Zach Myers (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Forest Hills Eastern HS) wasted little time knocking home the first goal of the game at the 1:12 minute mark. Craig Neal (Bay City, Mich. / Bay City Western HS) picked up the assist as he fed Myers beautifully in behind the defense. 

Saginaw Valley kept their momentum going in the 16th minute as Robert Short (Goodrich, Mich. / Goodrich HS) had his shot blocked by the goalkeeper. Fortunately for SVSU, Zach Walega (Saline, Mich. / Saline HS) was successful on his scoring opportunity off the rebound for the 2-0 Cardinal advantage.

In the final seconds of the first half, Zach Vasold (Freeland, Mich.) found Conor Reaume (Troy, Mich.) with a pass down the left side and just behind the Northwood defense. Reaume proceeded to beat the keeper with a blast from 18 yards out for the 3-0 lead heading into the intermission.

The second half was more of the same for Saginaw Valley as they kept their defensive pressure high going on to shutout the Timberwolves for the second time in two weeks. 

The SVSU defensive unit increases their shutout streak against Division II opponents to eight straight. Jason Wise (Troy, Mich.) lowers his goals against average to 0.76 as he worked 79 minutes in the semifinal victory. Tyler Yachcik (Troy, Mich.) came in for the final 10 minutes and made some big saves in net to preserve the shutout.

The Cardinals now advance to the GLIAC Tournament Championship on Sunday (Nov. 4) against Notre Dame (Ohio) at 1:00 PM at the SVSU Soccer Complex.