Josh Conover set a Northland men’s soccer record for quickest hat trick as he converted on his first three opportunities in the opening seven minutes with assists coming from Mark Romig, Luke Ortler, and an especially beautiful pass from Daniel Doran. Conover is currently the leading freshman goal scorer in the NCCAA II with twenty goals and is second overall only to teammate Daniel Doran with twenty-two. After being shell shocked in the opening minutes, Rockford would regain a bit of composure for the remainder of the half and hold Northland to just one more goal by Conover in the forty-fifth minute. Rockford would get one on the board, benefitting from a Northland own goal. Northland would lead 4–1 at the break.
Northland would again dominate the second half but struggle to find the net as Rockford played extremely defensively, hoping to stifle the Northland attack. They would be successful until the eighty-fifth minute when freshman Caleb Salsman would put Conover 1-on-1 with the Regent keeper, and Conover would calmly bury his fifth goal of the contest, securing a 5–1 victory for the Pioneers. Northland outshot Rockford 28–8 with GK Dave Bartholomew collecting four saves. In the last two games, the freshmen of Northland have scored all nine goals with assists coming from freshmen on five of the nine. The Pioneers hope to continue their success this weekend in the NCCAA Regional Tournament.
Another bit of good news for the Pioneers was securing a #1 seed in the upcoming NCCAA Regional Tournament in Lansing, Michigan. Northland will play their first game on Friday at 1 p.m. as they await the winner of Grace Bible and Great Lakes Bible. Northland will hope to move on to the finals and play the winner of the Moody-Maranatha game, which promises to be an extremely entertaining contest.