NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Down to 10 men, 10th-ranked North Central scored two goals 49 seconds apart in the 89th minute to snatch a 3-2 victory from the UW-Superior men's soccer team in the first round of the NCAA championship at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium Saturday.
 
Sophomore Gavin Watkinson (Lakeville, Minn./Farmington Area) scored the go-ahead goal at 85:23, breaking a 1-1 tie as he cleaned up the rebound of a Blake Perry (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) free kick. The Cardinals then got goals from Jaziel Enriquez at 88:08 and Daniel Navarro at 88:57 to advance.
 
North Central's Jack Bonavia drew two yellow cards in a span of five minutes, giving UWS a man advantage for the final 15 minutes of the match before Watkinson's tally. Enriquez hit a low shot along the ground that beat UWS goalkeeper Alex Paredes (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) to equalize. Navarro then took a feed from Enriquez just outside the box and put it high into the net to complete the comeback.
 
Perry pulled Superior (16-4-2) even in the 26th minute, putting a low shot past North Central goalie Sid Marquardt to the right from the left side of the penalty area. Perry's 16th goal of the year and 74th of his career, was assisted by Josh Bellamy (High Wycombe, England/FAB Football Academy). That goal came after Aidan Westerberg opened the scoring in the 14th minute.
 
North Central (17-0-4) outshot UWS 19-16 overall and 16-8 in shots on target for the match. Each team had four corner kicks. 
 
Marquardt made six saves, earning the win in net for the Cardinals, improving to 16-0-3. Paredes turned aside 13 shots. He took the loss, finishing at 15-3-2. 
 
The loss ended the careers of a group of three seniors -- Perry, Brandon Conklin (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) and Carter Tess (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) -- who were part of 60 wins over a four-year period.