The CCIW has been dominated by Wheaton, since its first season of sponsoring women's soceer back in 1995. Head Coach Pete Felske's program has gone 73-2 over those 11 seasons in the regular season. Wheaton is also 6-0 in CCIW Tournament play, which has been in existance for three seasons.
Wheaton has been in the NCAA tournament for 9 consecutive seasons. They reached the Elite 8 in 1998 and 2000, the Final Four in 2001, and defeated the University of Puget Sound, 2-1 in penalty kicks, for the 2004 National Championship.
But the rest of the conference is getting better. Last year, Augie and IWU went to the NCAA tournament as at-large bids. It should be a good season again this year.
Don't forget that the Red Sox and Patriots stink.
Paul-I seem to remember a long ago bus ride to a Wheaton soccer match, when I predicted the Patriots would win the Super Bowl and you told me I was crazy. They went on to win 3 out of 4, but who's counting?
Wheaton over Fredonia 6-0 in today's Baptista invite. Nice!
Wheaton over Loras 4-1.
In the biggest win for Wheaton in 2 years, the Thunder takes down #4 ranked TCNJ 3-2 in 2 overtimes.
The first NCAA regional rankings are out and posted in the Central Region Rankings area. This poll is the only one to use when wondering about Pool B and Pool C candidates.
Unofficial CCIW Tourney line-ups:
1. Wheaton........6-1-0...15-2-0 (18 points)
2. Augustana.....5-0-2...13-1-2 (17 points)
3. Carthage........4-1-1...12-4-1
3. Wesleyan.......4-1-1...10-5-2
Wheaton wins it and will host the #4 spot next Wednesday and Augie takes second and will host the #3 spot next Wednesday.
Carthage and Wesleyan play for the final two spots on Saturday.
Wheaton hosts Carthage tonight at 7pm and Augustana hosts Illinois Wesleyan also at 7.
The Championship match will be Saturday at 4:30 pm in Wheaton, since the Wheaton men are the highest remaining seed.
Must be rather frustrating for Augustana to beat Wheaton, not lose another game, and still not win the conference. Wheaton was fortunate to win its 12 straight championship after Augustana had two ties late in the season. On the other hand, Wheaton has the talent, as they showed against the College of New Jersey, to go deep in the NCAA tournament.
Wheaton won the CCIW Tourney and AQ with a somewhat lackluster performance on Saturday. It wasn't pretty, but Augie is a good team and Wheaton came away with a victory. I expect that Wheaton will host a regional next weekend, when the pairings are announced tomorrow. I also think that Augie will get an at-large bid as they did last year. In fact, last year 3 CCIW teams made the tourney, so it's possible that Illinois Wesleyan might have an outside chance.
Augie did get in, IL Wesleyan did not:
Wheaton will play Aurora at Joe Bean Stadium on Friday at 5 pm. Macalester takes on DePauw in the second game. Wheaton beat Aurora 5-0 earlier in the season and DePauw 3-0 in Greencastle. However, Wheaton is only 3-9-1 all-time against Macalester including a 2-1 loss last season.
Augie will play Grinnell on Friday at Eau Claire
Wheaton 2, Aurora 0.
Wheaton plays the DePauw/Macalester winner on Monday at 11:00.
Between UW-Eau Claire, Wheaton, IL, Washington-St. Louis and Hardin-Simmons, who figures to go the farthest yet?
Maybe Wash-U, if only because they don't have to play the other three teams this weekend, not to mention Santa Cruz.
Final just in: Wheaton, IL 2, UW-Eau Claire 0.
With 15 minutes left in the first half, Wheaton is dominating Virginia Wesleyan in play, but the score is tied 0-0.
0-0 at the end of the first half. Wheaton has 4 or 5 shots to Wesleyan's 1 shot. No shots on goal. Wheaton still looks like they have control.
Wheaton goes up 1-0 on Virginia Wesleyan early in the second half on a goal by Taryne Lee, her 20th of the season (just a few minutes after Sarah Richardson missed wide right).
Wheaton goes up 2-0 on Virginia Wesleyan early in the second half on another goal by Taryne Lee, her 21th of the season. Sarah Richardson got the assist.
Wheaton defeats Virginia Wesleyan 2-0 to move into the NCAA Championship match tomorrow. No team has scored a goal on Wheaton thus far in the Tourney.
Wheaton will play the winner of today's Messiah/College of New Jersey match. Wheaton defeated College of New Jersey earlier this year 3-2 in OT.
Good luck, Thunder women! If they end up getting Messiah, on paper that figures to be their stiffest test yet. ;)
Final: Wheaton over Virginia Wesleyan, 2-0. The championship game will be played at 12 noon (CST) Saturday. Go Thunder!
I actually think that TCNJ would be a tougher match than would Messiah. I am hoping for a Wheaton/Messiah final.
You figure the revenge factor will do it almost every time, eh? ;)
The College of New Jersey scores to make it 1-0 over Messiah in the 2nd overtime period. TCNJ leads in shots 10-4, so it looks like they are the better team today.
Hiker:
You may already know this but earlier this season the Thunder defeated the College of New Jersey at their place, 3-2.
And Messiah defeated Virginia Wesleyan during the season, 2-0.
Dave, check the earlier posts...
Wheaton is having technical difficulties that will keep them from updating their website until tomorrow morning, but here is the release from Wheaton sports information:
Wheaton Thunder women's soccer team advance to National Championship match
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (11/24) -The Wheaton College women's soccer team advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championship game by defeating Virginia Wesleyan (18-4-4) 2-0 on Friday. This is the second Championship game appearance for the Thunder, who won the 2004 National Championship in its other appearance. Wheaton will face the winner of Friday's other National Semifinal between Messiah College and the College of New Jersey.
Thunder head coach Pete Felske noted after the game, "I am real proud of the way we played today. This team has fought real hard to get to this point and has worked hard to get close to close to our goal of winning a National Championship."
Wheaton broke a 0-0 tie 2:25 into the second half when freshman forward Taryne Lee headed a cross from senior Laura Koontz. Alyson Webster was also credited with an assist on the play. It was Lee's 20th goal of the season, tying her for second on Wheaton's freshman goal scoring list. Lee noted of the eventual match-winning goal, "It was a perfect ball that was passed to me and it was just perfect timing."
Just six minutes later, junior Sarah Richardson sent a shot in from the corner off of a Maria Della Torre assist. It was Richardson's 19th goal of the season.
Wheaton goalkeeper Kristin Eggert made two saves and led Wheaton to its school record-tying 18th shutout of the season. Virginia Wesleyan's goalkeeper Lindsey Williams made four saves, allowing a season-high two goals.
In the National Championship match, the Wheaton women lead The College of New Jersey 2-0 at the half on 2 goals from Sarah Richardson.
The Wheaton women have won the 2006 NCAA National Championship by defeating the College of New Jersey 2-0.
Congrats to Coach Pete Felske and Coach Tim Daniels on a great season and a truly impressive post-season run. The Wheaton women scored 14 goals in the NCAA Tourney and held their opponents to 0. No overtimes, no shootouts, just overpowering soccer.
TCNJ had no real answer for Richardson, Lee, or Koontz. They tried, but even into the final minutes, Wheaton was able to press hard and open up a few chances for a 3rd goal. Passiales, Della Torre, and Barton also had a great match - Barton was very strong covering TCNJs scoring threat. The great thing for Wheaton is that they return all these players but Koontz for next year. TCNJ did have a number of scoring opportunities but they were quick counters and not typically built off of good consistent transition play. Wheaton did a great job of controlling the mid-field.
Obviously Augustana had something that no one in the Tourney had! CCIW women's soccer will continue to build in quality and I think will send 2 more teams into the post-season next year. Both Augustana and Illinois Wesleyan have enough of a post-season experience to know what it feels like - I hope to see them both on the national scene in 2007.
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (11/25) - The Wheaton College Thunder won its second NCAA Division III Women's Soccer National Championship on Saturday afternoon by defeating the College of New Jersey by a score of 2-0 in the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer National Championship Match. Head coach Pete Felske said after the match, "The Lord has really blessed us. I am really proud of these players and what they have done."
Junior forward Sarah Richardson collected a Maria Della Torre pass and scored Wheaton's first goal in the 16th minute of the match. Richardson said of the goal, "Mia [Della Torre] did most of the work by finding me open and I had a good first touch."
Richardson completed her Final Four hat trick, including a goal in the National Semifinal, with a goal off of a Taryne Lee assist with five minutes remaining in the first half as Lee threaded a pass to Richardson, who beat her defender and fired the shot into the back of the net.
Wheaton's phenomenal defense was led by Bethany Barton, as the Thunder would not allow the College of New Jersey to get a shot on goal in the first half. Wheaton defenders Lauren Lindner and Kira Davis shut down the Lions' attacks. Sophomore Kelly Foltz kept the Lions' leading scorer, Dana DiBruno, from converting her few chances.
It was an ironic twist for Barton, as she tallied the clinching penalty kick in the 2004 National Championship Match. This time she captained the defense that refused to allow a goal throughout the NCAA Tournament, as she earned all-tournament honors and Defensive MVP honors for the tournament. Barton said after the match, "It feels good to win outright; nobody likes to win on penalty kicks. It is good to have a 2-0 win like this."
Wheaton's junior goalkeeper Kristin Eggert recorded her 12th shutout of the season, and the team record 19th overall for the Thunder. She made three saves, including one with less than three minutes remaining in the match. The Lions' goalkeeper Jessica Clarke made four saves and allowed two goals.
This is Wheaton's second National Championship in three years. Head Coach Pete Felske's team won the National Championship in 2004 2-1 with a 5-4 advantage in penalty kicks over the University of Puget Sound.
Joining Barton as the Defensive Player of the Tournament, and Richardson received offensive honors. Both players were joined on the All-Tournament Team by Lee and Eggert. Kristen Cubicciotti, Jamie Kunkel, and Laura Delaney were named to the team from the College of New Jersey.
Lions' head coach Joe Russo said after the match, "They [Wheaton] are one of the best teams I have seen in a long time." Russo added, "Wheaton is an excellent team and they have good front-runners, with great pace."
Like I said, Jim:
Wheaton, ALL...THE...WAY!
(Though I confess I was thinking more of Joe Bean's guys!) Congratulations!
Congrats to Bethany Barton and Laura Koontz for making the d3kicks.com All-American 1st and 2nd Team. Laura is a senior and finishes with 2 National Championships, while Bethany is a junior and will be back in 2007, trying for a 3rd!
Barton and Koontz also were named to the NSCAA All-American team. Koontz was a first-team selection and Barton was a second-teamer.
Laura Koontz has been selected as the NSCAA/adidas Division III "Player of the Year." This is the second such award for a Wheaton soccer player in 3 years. Jessica Elsen was the POY on 2004.
This is a great way for Laura Koontz to finish out her soccer career. Congrats to her on this very fine recognition of her skills and contributions to the team!
Wheaton scores in the last minute of play to take down Eau-Claire 2-1. Wheaton's winning streak is now at 33 matches, third longest in NCAA Division III history. They only need 2 more wins to overtake TCNJ's 34 match winning streak.
Unlikely that anyone will match Ohio Wesleyan's 60 match winning streak, but if Wheaton can win the National Championship without any ties, they'll stand at 46 matches without a loss or tie. 60 is really quite a benchmark!
New rankings on the Rankings page...Wheaton has defeated 4 of the top 10 and plays another 3 to end the season.
Eau Claire looks good at #3 - the loss to Wheaton did them almost no harm.
A few conferences may see more than one team in the post-season if these rankings keep current...
Wheaton over Chicago 3-2 in 2 OTs. Chicago tied with 5 seconds remaining in regulation. Must have been a great one to watch.
Go Elmhurst, beat Millikin!
(If Millikin wins or ties, they're in the tourney; if they lose, IWU is in. Of course, for either the 'reward' is a first round game against current [and future?] national champ Wheaton, but at least they'd get the opportunity! ::))
YES!! Elmhurst beats Millikin, IWU is in the tourney!
Now there is the mere technicality of knocking off Wheaton! ::)
Wheaton would obviously still get a pool C if they were upset by someone in the tourney. Would Carthage stand a reasonable chance of a pool C if they finished second? (I'm assuming everyone else is win or go home.)
I'm not sure if Carthage would get a C berth. But it would certainly help if that one loss in the CCIW Tourney was to Wheaton.
Wheaton edges Illinois Wesleyan tonight 3-2 in OT.
Wheaton's coach Pete Felske said after the match that Wesleyan gives Wheaton the best tactical opposition of any team they play - and that tonight was no different. Hats off to Wesleyan's coach Dave Barrett for putting together a great game plan.
Wheaton outshot the Titans 27-6 and played well, but without All-American Bethany Barton in the back, the defense/mid-field wasn't as strong as it could be. Add to that the total determination displayed by Wesleyan and it ended up a close match regardless of the shot balance.
I suppose it was asking too much for the Titan men AND women to knock off Wheaton in the same year. :(
Some day it will happen (I should live so long)! ;D
Wheaton down Carthage 3-0, thus taking both the men's and women's AQs (now that's a rarity! ;)).
Think Carthage has any reasonable chance for an at-large?
At 10-3-1 in region (2 losses to Wheaton, 1 to Carroll) I think they're a lock.
Wheaton and Carthage in the Tourney. Wheaton has played 8 teams that have been selected for the post-season and has defeated all 8 - Wheaton will have to repeat at least a few matches.
So it is Stevens Point versus Wheaton in the sectionals. This match will probably take place at Wheaton and will be played on Friday evening. Joining Wheaton and UW-Stevens Point is Puget Sound and Wartburg.
Stevens Point has been one of Wheaton's better opponents over the years and thus the Pointers will be way up for this one. Wartburg is a bit of a Cinderella story and has a former Wheaton player as one its coaches. And Puget Sound played Wheaton in the Championship match in 2004. An interesting tie to each of the programs.
Earlier in the season, Wheaton defeated Stevens Point 5-2. I wouldn't bet on a score like that this weekend.
Great season for Chicago and its too bad it had to go out in PKs. It sounds like the Maroons had the better of the Pointers but just couldn't put it away. Chicago had to overcome a number of injuries in route to an at-large berth this year - and they certainly gave Wheaton all they could handle last month.
I'm sure we'll see more of Chicago next year. Which leads to an interesting question...is Chicago Wheaton's #1 rival in women's soccer?
Wheaton over UW-Stevens Point 4-0
Wheaton dominated this match from start to finish. While the score could have been 5 or 6 to 0, the important thing is that Wheaton played their game against a good Pointers side and won. Richardson and Della Torre had a great match, as did Bergh, Passiales and Folz. In fact every player did well - Hermann and Partain came off the bench and contributed in the 2nd half. Lee as always played well, but Stevens Point was all over her, limiting her opportunities.
The Pointers had one great chance for a goal when their striker found herself standing in front of an empty net with the ball at her feet - but she couldn't settle and shot over the crossbar. Other than that and perhaps one other set play opportunity, Stevens Point did not press the Wheaton keeper.
In the first half, Wheaton's transition game really hurt Stevens Point and it wasn't until Wheaton scored their first goal that the Pointers started marking Wheaton tighter, trying to take some space away from the Thunder. It didn't work and Wheaton went on to score another goal in short order. Midway through the 2nd half, Wheaton started to substitute and scored one more to finish it off. If you appreciate well played soccer, it was a great match to watch. 3726
Wheaton 2, Puget Sound 0
Another great soccer match at Wheaton tonight. Puget Sound sure gave Wheaton a game! The Thunder had to work hard for this one as the Loggers are fast, pass well, and attack often. Levian (#11) for the Loggers was the go to gal on almost every play - she is very good and had several chances, nailing a few nice shots. But Wheaton junior Kelly Foltz made the evening a frustrating one for Levian, who had a hat trick the previous evening in the match against Wartburg. Foltz was almost perfect in keeping the ball from the feet of Levian, and when she wasn't perfect, Barton was there to save the day. Barton and Foltz were the difference for Wheaton tonight.
Second half adjustments by the Wheaton coaching staff were very effective at keeping Wheaton's growing momentum alive, but until the 80 minute mark, the Loggers were very much in this match. Between #11 and #13, UPS has some great players and also some speed - #13 moved around the Wheaton defender more than once on a run to the top of the box. In every case however, either Barton, Foltz or sophomore Lindner was there to stop the play.
Wheaton just had too many weapons in this match for the Loggers to handle, and those weapons turned opportunities into goals. And with UPS playing an attack style match, Wheaton's Lee was left open or single covered and when that happens, she is going to create trouble. Great match to watch and Wheaton is headed to the Final 4 for the 3rd time in 4 years. The Loggers finish a great season and should be proud of their ascent to the Elite Eight this year. 3745
Western Connecticut blanks Hamilton 1-0 and thus become Wheaton's next foe. They'll play on Friday in Florida.
At the half, it's Wheaton 1, West Conn 0.
Messiah defeated TCNJ 2-0 in the other semi.
Wheaton over West Conn 3-0.
It's Messiah and Wheaton for the National Championship on Saturday.
Wheaton over Messiah 1-0 for the National Championship. That's 2 in a row and 3 out of the last 4. Very nice experience for those Wheaton seniors!
Congrats to the team and to the coaches on a perfect season: 27-0-0. A new NCAA DIII record for wins in a season.
Wheaton's press release:
The Wheaton College women's soccer team won its third NCAA Division III National Championship in four years on Saturday with a 1-0 win against Messiah College in the NCAA Division III National Championship match. Wheaton concludes the season with a NCAA Division III record mark of 27-0 on the year. Today's win was Wheaton's 45th consecutive victory.
Thunder Sophomore Jami Herrmann broke a scoreless tie late in the first half to give Wheaton the 1-0 lead. Herrmann collected a loose ball 42:50 into the match and bended the ball past Messiah keeper Brindley Beckwith.
Herrmann's goal gave Wheaton a 1-0 halftime lead that the Thunder would manage to maintain. Wheaton out-shot the Falcons 18-9 in the match, with a 9-4 edge in corner kicks. Messiah's best scoring opportunity came in the final five minutes of regulation, however Wheaton goalkeeper Kristin Eggert made a diving save to secure the lead. Eggert noted of the save, "I was focused pretty intensely on that ball. I knew that all of the girls around me had worked so hard to keep that zero on the scoreboard, so I really wanted to keep it as well."
Eggert made five saves in 90 minutes of work as she earned an All-Tournament selection for the second consecutive year. Beckwith made six saves in the Falcons' net.
Thunder junior midfielder Kari Klynstra was selected as the tournament's "Most Outstanding Offensive Player." Senior Bethany Barton was named the "Most Outstanding Defensive Player" of the tournament for the second consecutive year. Junior defender Kelly Foltz also earned All-Tournament selection.
Thunder head coach Pete Felske commented, "I told the team after the match that this is something to really be proud of. To win two titles in a row, with everybody gunning for you and have and undefeated is something very special."
The Thunder becomes the third program to win three NCAA Division III National Championships. Wheaton and The College of New Jersey have each won three titles and UC-San Diego has won five Division III Championships.
Five of Wheaton's seniors: Sarah Richardson, Barton, Eggert, Kira Davis and Melinda Lowry have been with the team for the past four seasons and all three of the program's National Championships. Wheaton has compiled a record of 97-6 over the past four years. Richardson, a team captain, noted of the accomplishment, "Three national championships is something to be proud of. Our whole team stepped up this year and everybody brought something unique to the table to help us get to this point."
Felske noted of the senior class, "I think what they have accomplished is far beyond what we expected. It is hard enough to win one Championship and unless you have done it, it is hard to know that. But to come back and do it a second time and to win a third title is way beyond our expectations as a coaching staff."
Augustana's '08 women's soccer schedule is now up:
http://www.augustana.edu/x1287.xml
Carthage:
http://www.carthage.edu/athleticspages/womens/soccer/scwsoc.html
Elmhurst:
http;//media.athletics.elmhurst.edu/documents/08wssched.pdf
North Central:
http://www.northcentralcollege.edu/x32658.xml
North Park
http://www.northpark.edu/npuvikings/sport.cfm?pageCall=14
(Schedule/Results link)
IL Wesleyan:
http://www2.iw.edu/womenssports/soccer/wsoc_sked08.shtml
Wheaton:
http://athletics.wheaton.edu/schedules.asp?path=wsoccer
Miilikin
http://www.millikin.edu/athletics/schedule.asp?TEAM=10&TERM=632
Wheaton's women's soccer preview is up: http://athletics.wheaton.edu/index.asp?path=wsoccer
A women's tennis player giving soccer a shot this year... ;)
North Park's season preview is up on the web:
http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?northpark=RNews.RNews_Story&ID=2804 (http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?northpark=RNews.RNews_Story&ID=2804)
Quote from: mr_b on August 26, 2008, 12:45:14 PM
North Park's season preview is up on the web:
http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?northpark=RNews.RNews_Story&ID=2804 (http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?northpark=RNews.RNews_Story&ID=2804)
Wow. I don't suppose the rest of the CCIW will be posting that in their locker room ::)
Quote from: Northern_Explorer on August 26, 2008, 03:28:22 PM
Quote from: mr_b on August 26, 2008, 12:45:14 PM
North Park's season preview is up on the web:
http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?northpark=RNews.RNews_Story&ID=2804 (http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?northpark=RNews.RNews_Story&ID=2804)
Wow. I don't suppose the rest of the CCIW will be posting that in their locker room ::)
??? The posting was meant to inform, not necessarily inspire. I doubt any team in the CCIW will take an opponent lightly.
Augustana had a successful opening weekend - 10-0 over Conc-Chicago & 3-0 over Stout.
On the NPU front, the 3-2 loss to MSOE may indicate they have more work to do to compete with the top end of the CCIW.
Congratulations to the North Park women's soccer team on recording its first win of the season, a 3-0 victory over Marian College!
Box score (http://www.northpark.edu/npuVikings/sport.cfm?pageCall=14)
Augustana has it's first real test today against Wartburg.
Wartburg 1-0 over Augustana.
Augie now knows that Wheaton is vulnerable as they lost today at Loras. Yes, their goal scorer Lee was out due to injury, but the win was a big one for Loras - and for future opponents.
The Loras game was pretty exciting. They definitely played low pressure to try to keep Wheaton off the board, and it worked. Loras scored on a corner kick that Wheaton couldn't clear out of the box. I would have liked to seen Lee play for Wheaton though.
Augie beat Greenville 2-1 in OT today.
Augie opens it's conference schedule on 9/25 against Wheaton. Wheaton has bounced back from their loss to Loras in a win and a tie with two ranked teams, and Lee is back on the pitch as well.
This should be a telling match in Augie's season.
North Park set a CCIW record by trouncing Mount Mary (WI) College, 18-0. Game story (http://www.northpark.edu/npuVikings/sport.cfm?pageCall=14) Alyssa Jacobson led the charge with five goals.
Quote from: mr_b on September 25, 2008, 09:45:43 PM
North Park set a CCIW record by trouncing Mount Mary (WI) College, 18-0. Game story (http://www.northpark.edu/npuVikings/sport.cfm?pageCall=14) Alyssa Jacobson led the charge with five goals.
Perhaps at 1-6 going in, they needed a boost and can be forgiven, but as a coach I was always totally embarassed to beat a team by more than 7 or 8 goals. Unless the last 10 goals were scored by players who otherwise rarely see the field, I think this win was more shameful than something to brag about.
Augustana lost 3-0 to Wheaton last night.
9/28-10/01 Women's CCIW Results:
September 28, 2008
Elmhurst 2, North Central 0
Augustana 6, MIllikin 1
Carthage 1, Illinois Wesleyan 0
September 29, 2008
Wheaton 3, Chicago 1
October 1, 2008
Augustana 4, North Central 1
Carthage 3, North Park 2
Wheaton 6, Elmhurst 0
Illinois Wesleyan 2, St. Mary's (Ind.) 1
Millikin 5, Rose-Hulman 4
Standings as of 10/1:
School CCIW Overall
Carthage 2-0-0 9-0-0
Wheaton 2-0-0 9-1-1
Augustana 2-1-0 8-2-0
Elmhurst 1-1-0 5-4-0
Millikin 0-1-0 8-3-0
Ill. Weslyn 0-1-0 6-4-0
North Park 0-1-0 2-8-0
N Central 0-2-0 4-4-3
Augie beat Carthage 1-0 tonight in Kenosha.
Congratulations to the North Park women's soccer team for registering their first conference win, 1-0, over Elmhurst.
http://www.northpark.edu/npuVikings/ (http://www.northpark.edu/npuVikings/)
Conference tournament starts tonight with Augie at Wheaton at 7 PM, and Carthage at Ill. Wesleyan tomorrow.
Wheaton beat Augie 3-0 in conference play, although it was 0-0 until the 66th minute. Unfortunately, I fear Augie loses again tonight.
Carthage beat IWU 1-0 in conference play and I think it will happen again tomorrow.
I'll be at the Augustana/Wheaton match tonight. Should be a good one.
As suspected, Wheaton won 2-1 last night. Wheaton controlled possession as Augie played low pressure (almost no pressure). It looked like it might work as Augie went up 1-0 in the first five minutes. But alas, it was not to be. Wheaton tied it shortly after, and put in the winner in the second half.
I don't know if you saw the winning goal the same as I, but it seemed like a lucky bounce for Wheaton. Lee made a nice turn at the top of the 18, but seemed to almost whiff on a shot. The result rolled right to the feet of Jami Hermann who had a tap in for the game winner. I know the Wheaton faithful will maintain that was a pass from Lee, but I don't think so. Either way, the ball found the back of the net and Wheaton advances.
Augie had a chance to tie in the final minutes, but the shot by Coulson hit side netting. Augie has to hope for a Pool C bid now.
I didn't have a good angle on the Lee pass/shot. From the box, it seemed like a pass.
Two big injuries for Wheaton in the match.
The CCIW website says IWU 1, Wheaton 0 in tonite's tourney game. Am I correct in assuming they goofed, and IWU actually downed Carthage?
(They do list the upcoming final as being Wheaton vs. IWU.)
Yes, they goofed.
Wheaton beats Illinois Wesleyan 1-0 on a goal by Taryne Lee.
Yet again, the Titans play tight defense against Wheaton. I thought they would have had a stronger chance playing a more balanced game.
Any pool C bids in the CCIW's future?
Aside from AQ Wheaton, 3 pretty impressive overall records, the least impressive being regular-season champ IWU.
Remember who 4 of those loses were to: Wash U, Chicago, Carthage and Wheaton. Three of those teams are highly ranked. The two early loses are hurting them, but the remainder of the season was impressive.
Illinois Wesleyan is in on a Pool C ticket. Great for the Titans!
And Carthage, too. Is 3 teams in a new high for the CCIW?
Ypsi, I missed that...3 is the best we've had, no doubt.
I think Wesleyan gets in due to their regular season conference championship. This is the first time since conference play began back in '95 that Wheaton didn't win it outright or share it ('01 with Carthage).
I was hoping Augie had a chance to get in with their 15-4 record. Three of the four losses were to tournament teams (2 losses to Wheaton and 1 to Wesleyan), and the other loss was to Wartburg, who may arguably have the biggest complaint with the tournament committee after not getting in with their 17-2 record. I think strength of schedule ultimately hurt Augie, even though they did beat some good teams such as Carthage, Loras and Concordia-Moorhead.
Too many games against the likes of Concordia (IL), MacMurray and Westminster, even though the combined score was 30-0 against those three teams.
DIIIDad, looking at the NCAA regional polls, you can see that Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage appeared as a result of their strength of schedule, which can also be related to the in-region record. Back in the day, the committees would look at more subjective data, but no more.
Carthage lost in the first round, 0-3 to UWEC.
Wheaton beat Carroll, 3-1.
Wheaton avenged the Carthage loss, 0-0 to UWEC (won 3-1 on PKs).
IWU went 0-0 with Rhodes, but advanced on PKs (3-1).
IWU went 0-0 with WashU, but lost 3-1 on PKs).
[Jim, you commented earlier you thought IWU was TOO defensive minded and would do better with a more balanced game. Unless they already over-achieved for their talent, I think these results prove you right.]
Next weekend: Wheaton vs. WashU.
For the Titans sake, I wish they had more offense. It would have been neat to see a third match-up between the Titans and the Thunder.
Wash U is no easy match-up for Wheaton. They play a tough schedule and also play a strong defense. Other than the split with IWU, the only common opponent is Chicago. Wheaton beat 'em 3-1 and Wash U lost to them 1-0. The difference will be two things: Wheaton has a more powerful offense and the match is being held at Wheaton. If the Wheaton defense avoids big mistakes, this might fall the way of Wheaton.
Were you at the game?
The Titans did have more "on target" offense than Wash U. They also equaled total shots to Wash U. Although when I add up Wash U's shots, I only get 13 shots for them. That means IWU had more offense and was also on target more often. They just need to get it passed the goalie. Check out the shots chart from the Wash U. web site.
Shot Chart
2008 Washington U. Women's Soccer
Illinois Wesleyan vs #8 Washington U. (Nov 16, 2008 at St. Louis, Mo.)
Team Shot Summary
Illinois Wesleyan Washington U.
------------------------- -------------------------
TOTAL SHOTS ATTEMPTED 14 TOTAL SHOTS ATTEMPTED 14
BLOCKED BY DEFENSE 3 BLOCKED BY DEFENSE 2
SHOTS OFF TARGET 3 SHOTS OFF TARGET 8
POSTS 1 POSTS 0
SHOTS ON TARGET 7 SHOTS ON TARGET 3 SAVED BY GOALIE 7 SAVED BY GOALIE 3
GOALS SCORED 0 GOALS SCORED 0
Another thing to consider is that Wash U resorted to a lot of fouls in order to contain the Titans (and those were only the ones called).
Fouls 1 2 OT O2 SO Total
Illinois Wesleyan 2 2 0 1 0 5
Washington U. 3 9 2 1 0 15
I don't know who I favor this Friday. Maybe keep it in the CCIW.
I only watched part of the match, but what I saw didn't show me many good opportunities for the Titans. But maybe I missed them. I did see the foul count run up by Wash U.
I've battled for years on these various boards against those who can't appreciate soccer because of the lack of scoring. But even I (a long-time soccer coach) might be unable to applaud back-to-back double shutouts, settled by PKs! ;)
Titans, don't lose the defense, but work on some offense! ;D
Ypsi, your Titans always seem to have enough offense to give Wheaton a run for their money! Seriously, I really would have loved to see Wesleyan in the Sweet 16 for the first time ever. The women's program continues to get better and is gaining a solid reputation, which not only helps the school, but the CCIW and the Central region.
I see from the scoreboard that Wheaton downed WashU 3-0 yesterday. Anyone have details?
Just three more wins necessary, Wheaton! ;)
Wheaton had all three goals in the second half against Wash U. They played very well, Ypsi. And with tonight's 2-1 win, they'll be in Greensboro in December.
It's 'Game On' in Greensboro! Good luck to the Thunder!
Getting close to opening day of the '09 season. Will Wheaton get back on top? Or will one of the next tier teams (Augie, Carthage or Ill. Wesleyan) take the conference this year?
I plan on seeing most of the Augie games this year, so I'll give you my feedback when possible, biased though it may be.
Well, it seems the coaches of the CCIW have picked Wheaton to regain the conference championship.
http://www.cciw.org/fall_soccer_w/2009preseasonwspoll.php
Does anyone know if Wheaton lost any key players from last year? What was their recruiting class like for this year?
They loss 3 key players from last years team on a couple others who contributed.
The number 1 player they lost was Joel DeLass, who was player of the year in the conference. The also lost Jonathon Liechty and Ben Theimer who were captains and senoir leaders. I don't know what incoming freshman they have. I would guess they probably have some great recruits, but there will definitely be a learning curve to replace the likes of DeLass, Theimer and Liechty.
Sorry, I posted about the Wheaton men's team by mistake on the women's site. I don't know much about the Wheaton women except that they are very talented.
You had me pretty excited until I realized you were talking about the men's team there. My daughter is going to Augie, and all roads lead through Wheaton on the women's side.
Your daughter will enjoy Augie it's a great school. Is Mejea still the coach? He is a great coach and a great guy. Good luck to your daughter and Augie.
Quote from: d3fan1 on August 10, 2009, 05:18:11 PM
Your daughter will enjoy Augie it's a great school. Is Mejea still the coach? He is a great coach and a great guy. Good luck to your daughter and Augie.
Thanks, she can't wait. Yes, Scott Mejia is still the women's coach, and I'd agree with your assessment of him. I've never heard anyone with a negative word to say about him. In fact, when my daughter informed some of the other schools that were recruiting her of her choice, many responded that she had made a good choice to play for an excellent coach at an excellent school.
Thanks, she can't wait. Yes, Scott Mejia is still the women's coach, and I'd agree with your assessment of him. I've never heard anyone with a negative word to say about him. In fact, when my daughter informed some of the other schools that were recruiting her of her choice, many responded that she had made a good choice to play for an excellent coach at an excellent school.
[/quote]
Great choice on schools. My daughter is also going to be a freshmen at there, playing basketball. Scott tried to convince her she should play soccer and basketball, we told her in college only one make a choice! Nevertheless I spent time with Scott on the phone he is a great guy. At the moment the girls soccer program is having a lot more success than the basketball program. We have great hope that Coach Endress will turn that around starting this year!!
Good luck to your daughter Badgerbimmer. I hope they get that program turned around. My daughter and I watched several games last year when we were on campus for various events.
Quote from: radchii on August 07, 2009, 06:42:55 PM
Does anyone know if Wheaton lost any key players from last year? What was their recruiting class like for this year?
Well, according to their season preview, they return 8 starters and 12 players that played at least 20 games last year. This from a team that made it to the National Championship. Taryne Lee returns, along with her incoming freshman sister Jennifer.
Apparently, the keeper position is going to be the big question, as they have two keepers vying for the starting job that have never played a college game. With the team in front of them, it may not matter who plays in the net.
All 8 CCIW teams opened play on the road yesterday, going 6-2 overall.
September 1, 2009
Rollins 2, Carthage 0
Illinois Wesleyan 1, Washington 0
North Park 7, Wisconsin Lutheran 0
Wheaton 3, Wisconsin-Stevens Point 0
North Central 4, Benedictine 0
Webster 2, Millikin 1
Elmhurst 1, Dominican 0
Augustana 3, Edgewood 0
Nice wins by all, but a big win by IWU beating Washmo.
September 3, 2009
North Central 4, Maranatha Baptist 0
North Park 1, Wisconsin-Stout 0
Both programs are now 2-0. If North Central keeps this up, they are going to have a winning season - their first ever.
Illinois Wesleyan was getting some revenge from last season's NCAA PK loss to Wash U. Those 2 programs are getting quite a little rivalry started.
September 6, 2009
Augustana 4, Dominican 0
North Park 1, Lake Forest 0
Illinois Wesleyan 2, Emory 2
September 5, 2009
Hope 4, Elmhurst 3
Carthage 3, Clarke 2
Millikin 2, Principia 0
Puget Sound 1, Wheaton 0
Illinois Wesleyan 0, Berry (Ga.) 0
September 4, 2009
Carthage 2, St. Norbert 1
Wheaton 4, Carleton 0
Elmhurst 3, Manchester 1
Millikin 2, Greenville 1
CCIW is 16-4-2 so far.
I saw a couple of games over the weekend. I saw Wheaton lose to Puget Sound on Saturday night, and I saw Augie destroy Dominican on Sunday afternoon.
Although Wheaton lost 1-0, I think they did have the better of the play. They outshot PS 15-5 with many quality chances inside the 18. As happens, they just couldn't put many on frame, with the PS keeper only needing to make 4 saves. I had never seen PS play, but I have to say that Janece Levien is a stud. She is every bit the player that Taryne Lee is for Wheaton, getting the better of Lee today with 1 goal.
I saw something in the Wheaton game that I'd never seen before in a soccer game. Down 1-0 with about 8 minutes to go in the second half, Wheaton effectively pulled their keeper, putting in a field player with a pinny and gloves out as the 11th attacker. It didn't work, but I thought it was interesting ploy.
Also, Taryne's sister Jennifer is going to be a nice player for Wheaton for the next four years. She made some pretty strong tackles in the game and got my attention. Must be good genes in the family.
As for the Augie v. Dominican game, it was pretty ugly. Augie won 4-0, outshooting Dominican 20-1. The score could have been much worse, but the DU keeper made 6 quality saves. The Augie keeper was not credited with a single save attempt. Nothing much else to say about this one.
Augie takes on Greenville tonight. Augie won 2-1 in OT last year.
New national rankings are out with 2 CCIW teams in the top 10:
#5 Wheaton
#10 Illinois Wesleyan
Augie handed it to Greenville last night 6-0, outshooting them 35-2 and controlling every phase of the game.
September 9, 2009
Millikin 4, Concordia-Chicago 0
North Central 3, Lake Forest 2
Wheaton 2, Aurora 1
Chicago 3, North Park 0
September 8, 2009
Augustana 6, Greenville 0
Season conference total is 20-5-2.
September 10, 2009
Illinois Wesleyan 1, UW Whitewater 0
Good Luck tonight to my Millikin friends.
September 12, 2009
Augustana 3, Wisconsin-Stout 0
Wheaton 4, Wisconsin-Eau Claire 2
Illinois Wesleyan 3, Chicago 1
St. Olaf 2, Carthage 1
St. Norbert 2, North Park 1
North Central 6, Wisconsin Lutheran 0
September 11, 2009
Millikin 2, Fontbone 0
September 10, 2009
Carthage 3, Concordia (Wis.) 0
Illinois Wesleyan 1, Wisconsin-Whitewater 0
Conference total is 27-7-2
September 13, 2009
Dubuque 2, North Central 1
Millikin 6, Franklin 0
Carleton 3, Carthage 0
Elmhurst 3, Monmouth (Ill.) 0
Augustana 1, Wisconsin La Crosse 0
Conference total is 30-9-2
September 15, 2009
Wheaton 5, DePauw 1
Illinois Wesleyan 13, Eureka 1
September 14, 2009
Elmhurst 6, Lakeland 0
Conference total is 33-9-2
The first conference game is today with North Park at Elmhurst.
September 16, 2009
Carroll 2, Carthage 1
Illinois Wesleyan 5, St. Mary's 0
Elmhurst 3, North Park 1
Non-Conference total is 34-10-2
With the win, Elmhurst has jumped to the top of the conference standings. Of course, there has only been one conference game to date. ;)
Shouldn't the conference total be 35-11-2?
For each conference game there will be a win and a loss.
Quote from: radchii on September 17, 2009, 08:35:32 PM
Shouldn't the conference total be 35-11-2?
For each conference game there will be a win and a loss.
Touche. Excellent point. I've fixed it.
Quote from: DIIIdad on September 17, 2009, 08:59:35 PM
Quote from: radchii on September 17, 2009, 08:35:32 PM
Shouldn't the conference total be 35-11-2?
For each conference game there will be a win and a loss.
Touche. Excellent point. I've fixed it.
Leave out the conference games for that reason - it waters down our record!
Just say we are so far 34-10-2 against the infidels! ;D
(That's looking like a non-con basketball record - in a very good year! I used to get a good start on pickems by just picking 'CCIW sweep' week-after-week, sometimes with just one or two exceptions.)
Good point. Go CCIW
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on September 17, 2009, 09:21:52 PM
Leave out the conference games for that reason - it waters down our record!
I like the way you think. I was really only keeping track to see how well the conference as a whole was doing. I'll fix the fix and make it non-conference only.
September 18
Millikin @ Thomas More
Loras @ Wheaton
September 19
*Augustana @ Carthage
*Illinois Wesleyan @ North Park
Eureka @ North Central
September 20
Loras @ Elmhurst
Millikin @ Heidelberg
North Central vs. TBA
I'll be at the Wheaton v. Loras game today and the Augie v. Carthage game tomorrow.
DIIIDad,
Did you say that your daughter is a freshman at Augie? How does she like the school and what is she studying? Also, how does she like the soccer team and the coach?
After yesterday's 3-1 over Loras, the Wheaton College women's soccer team is now 113-5-4 at Joe Bean Stadium since the beginning of the 2000 season.
September 20, 2009
Millikin 1, Heidelberg 0
Loras 1, Elmhurst 0
North Central 3, Mt. Mercy 1
September 19, 2009
Augustana 5, Carthage 1
Illinois Wesleyan 3, North Park 1
North Central 4, Eureka 1
September 18, 2009
Thomas More 3, Millikin 1
Wheaton 3, Loras 1
Non-Conference total is 38-12-2.
Quote from: radchii on September 18, 2009, 04:28:21 PM
DIIIDad,
Did you say that your daughter is a freshman at Augie? How does she like the school and what is she studying? Also, how does she like the soccer team and the coach?
Yes, she absolutely loves the school, the team and the coach. Her major is undecided for now and changes with the weather.
I forgot to post about the two women's games I saw over the weekend.
Wheaton 3 Loras 1:
Taryne Lee is a beast. She had a hat-trick and none of the goals were cheapies. I think Wheaton is still the team to beat in the CCIW, but I'm hoping Augie and IWU give them a game.
Augustana 5 Carthage 1:
Augie remains undefeated at 6-0, but did finally allow a goal off a Carthage corner kick with less than two minutes to go in the first half. But Augie had already scored three goals in a ten minute span to essentially put the game away. Augie score two insurance goals in the second half. Shots were 20-9 and corners 8-1 in favor of Augie.
Augie plays at Loras on 9/23.
September 23, 2009
Carthage 1, Lake Forest 0
Wheaton 3, Elmhurst 0
Illinois Wesleyan 3, Rose-Hulman 0
Augustana 2, Loras 0
Non-Conference total is 41-12-2
September 24, 2009
Aurora 2, North Park 0
Fontbonne 2, North Central 1
Non-Conference total falls to 41-14-2
No. 5 Wheaton hosts No. 20 Calvin at 4 on Saturday. Should be a good match, although after that Chicago loss, Calvin might be a bit exposed.
September 27, 2009
Millikin 2, Wisconsin-Oshkosh 2
September 26, 2009
Augustana 2, Millikin 1
North Park 5, Carthage 4
Wheaton 1, Calvin 0
Adrian 2, Elmhurst 0
Illinois Wesleyan 5, Wisconsin-Oshkosh 0
Non-conference total is 43-15-3
Augie remains undefeated.
As do the Titans.
3 CCIW teams in the national poll. I'm not sure that we've seen this before. And certainly the highest ranking ever for Illinois Wesleyan.
Quote from: Jim Matson on September 28, 2009, 11:25:50 PM
Augie remains undefeated.
Augie is now 9-0, but their last two wins were 2-1 victories over teams that, on paper, they should have beaten more soundly; Millikin and Coe.
Millikin is a better team than I thought going into this game. They scored 3 minutes into the game off a corner kick when the ball lay in the 6 and was not cleared by the D or snagged by the keeper. It was a soft goal that never should have happened, but it was the first time all season that Augie was behind in a game. It took 633 minutes into the season for Augie to fall behind. Once Millikin had the lead, they packed everyone behind the ball and tried to hold on for a 1-0 victory. Augie eventually scored early in the second half, and that changed the game enough that they were able to score the game winner and escape still undefeated. Even though it was a win, none of the ladies were satisfied with the effort, as it was probably the worst they've played all season.
I did not see the Coe game, but understand that the team was again unhappy with their performance. A win is a win, but they know they have to play better if they are going to compete with Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan.
They are off on a 5 day trip to California where they will take on two regionally ranked teams in Chapman and Cal Lutheran. Coming back home at 11-0 would be a nice accomplishment.
September 30, 2009
Carthage 2, Dubuque 1
Elmhurst 2, North Central 1
Illinois Wesleyan 3, Monmouth (Ill.) 0
September 29, 2009
Augustana 2, Coe 1
Chicago 3, Wheaton 1
Non-conference total is 46-16-3.
I know the loss totals will increase, but it sure is weird adding another Wheaton loss to the list. I didn't see the game, but that is a pretty impressive result for Chicago.
With her two goals against Hope College on Saturday, Wheaton senior forward Taryne Lee now stands at 90 career goals. Her career numbers put her as one of the top scorers in NCAA Division III history.
http://athletics.wheaton.edu/sports/2009/10/3/WSOC_NCAA_LIST.aspx?id=136
October 4, 2009
Augustana 1, California Lutheran 1
October 3, 2009
Millikin 1, North Central 0
Wheaton 2, Hope 0
North Park 1, Dominican 0
October 2, 2009
Augustana 2, Chapman 0
October 1, 2009
Millikin 4, Central 0
Wheaton 6, North Park 0
Non-conference total is 49-16-4
I knew it had to happen sooner or later, but Augie is no longer undefeated and untied. They tied Cal Lutheran 1-1 on Sunday. The record of 1-0-1 on the trip to California is pretty respectable given that they were playing the #5 and #6 in the West Region. On top of that, travel arrangements were messed up due to weather conditions, so they ended up flying and playing the same date.
Augie is now 10-0-1, and has allowed only 4 goals all season. However, the meat of the schedule is still to come with games against Carroll, Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan, not to mention 3 other conference games with North Park, North Central and Elmhurst.
They moved up again in the rankings, but not as much as I would have expected. I thought the road trip was a good one for them and will be great preparation for Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan.
I think 19th is about right for Augie right now. While the schedule has been tweaked to increase the strength of opponents, they haven't beaten anybody that has shown up in any rankings until the recent California trip. Although, they have defeated 3 teams that did make it to the NCAA tournament last year in Edgewood, Carthage and Loras.
They play a tough Carroll team tomorrow night and then North Park this weekend. With Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan looming, we'll see where Augie stands after those two games.
Well, it was bound to happen - Augie lost 2-1 to Carroll University last night. Augie had chances early that they did not finish, and Carroll then got on the board about 12 minutes in. Carroll then added another to lead 2-0 at halftime. Augie did score 3 minutes into the 2nd half, and had many chances to tie the game, but they could not convert.
Now that the undefeated monkey is off their backs, perhaps the Vikings will get back to playing like they did at the beginning of the season. 6 games remain, with 5 of them being CCIW games, including Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan.
I'm predicting a big bounce back game on Saturday night at North Park.
October 7, 2009
Elmhurst 2, Aurora 0
Millikin 5, Rose-Hulman 2
Illinois Wesleyan 4, North Central 1
Carroll 2, Augustana 1
Non-conference total is 51-17-4
It was a weird day/night for Augie, that's for sure. I wouldn't have thought they would have chance of a loss unless it was at the hands of Illinois Wesleyan or Wheaton. Carroll is a good team, but Augie had the skill set to beat them.
On the other hand, the Viking men pulled a nice upset, and in fact, looked every bit like Wheaton' equal. They played great defense and their coach had a game plan that worked. Their goal was a good one and it was their only real good opportunity. Wheaton had plently of chances, but good stops on all of them. Wheaton needs to regroup becuase if they can't play better than a 3-6 squad, they'll never see the post-season.
Quote from: Jim Matson on October 08, 2009, 12:03:26 PM
It was a weird day/night for Augie, that's for sure. I wouldn't have thought they would have chance of a loss unless it was at the hands of Illinois Wesleyan or Wheaton. Carroll is a good team, but Augie had the skill set to beat them.
You could see from the trend of play since the start of the season that they were ripe for a loss. Some on the team started to believe that they could win just by showing up. I don't think they realized that the target on their backs kept growing with every win, and also with the appearance in the polls. For Carroll, last night was a huge win - it makes their season.
I don't think Coach Mejia will ever admit it, but if I'm in his shoes, I'm OK with that loss last night. It was not a conference game and it was to a team with a good record. I guarantee you he will have the girls' attention in training today and tomorrow, and I expect a nice bounce back on Saturday at North Park. Hopefully, the team will not be looking ahead to next week's game against Wheaton. A couple more days of training next week, with constant reminders of the effort in the loss last night, and Augie should come out supercharged for the home game against Wheaton.
Of course, I could be completely wrong too.
October 11, 2009
Aurora 3, Millikin 2
October 10, 2009
North Central 3, Beloit 0
Illinois Wesleyan 2, Elmhurst 1
Augustana 1, North Park 0
October 9, 2009
Wheaton 4, Carthage 0
Non-conference total is 52-18-4
Augie got back in the win column with a 1-0 victory over North Park on Saturday night. Not exactly the bounce back I was hoping for, but Augie did dominate the game 23-4 in shots, and 13-1 in shots on goal.
Augie is going to need to finish some of those chances if they hope to beat Wheaton on Wednesday. This next game is what they have been looking forward to all season. Earlier in the season, I liked Augie's chances against Wheaton. However, of late, Augie has been unable to finish.
October 13, 2009
Illinois Wesleyan 6, Fontbonne 0
Non-conference total is 53-18-4
Tonight is the Wheaton @ Augie game. I'll be there and will report the good (hopefully) news tomorrow.
Great win for Augie, DIIIDad! Congrats!
Quote from: Jim Matson on October 15, 2009, 12:20:23 AM
Great win for Augie, DIIIDad! Congrats!
Holy cow, what a game! 3-2 win in OT. I was afraid that Augie would try to play low pressure again as they have done against Wheaton in the past. Not last night. The game was more like a heavyweight fight with attack and counter-attack by both teams.
Augie took it to them from the opening kick and took the lead about 12 minutes in. Wheaton countered with a beautiful goal of its own and the half ended in a 1-1 tie. I thought Augie let off the gas pedal after they got the 1 goal lead, but I'm sure some of that had to do with Wheaton responding to the deficit. Each team scored a questionable goal in the second half - Augie on a disputable penalty kick, and Wheaton on a disputable direct kick just outside the 18.
I thought Augie dominated the OT, although shots were 2-2 in that time. Augie had the only corner in OT and scored with about 1:30 left in the first OT. Overall stats wise, the game was almost dead even, with shots in favor of Wheaton at 11-10, corners were even at 4-4 and saves were even at 3-3.
I've seen Wheaton play approximately 10 times in the last few years. This was the first time I've seen them get rattled like any other team. Wheaton received 3 yellows in the match, and I believe each of them was a response to the direct Augie pressure. I saw a defender kick a ball over her own end line with a resulting corner kick when other options were available to her. I can't remember seeing a Wheaton team do that in the past. Even when they lost to Puget Sound earlier in the year, Wheaton controlled the game. I think that UChicago and Augie showed that you can pressure Wheaton - they are not invincible.
That being said, I believe that Wheaton is still the benchmark in the CCIW. They are a class program that every team should aim to copy. This was only the 2nd time in history that Augie has beaten Wheaton. I can't imagine the pressure that Wheaton plays with on a daily basis. To be at the top for as long as they have, and to wear the bulls-eye on their back for every game has got to wear on the players. They know that every game they are going to get their opponents' best shot, yet they roll on at or near the top. On the rare occasions that they do lose, they make no excuses. I respect that.
Here is a link to the winning goal: http://www.augustana.edu/x16922.xml (http://www.augustana.edu/x16922.xml)
October 14, 2009
Augustana 3, Wheaton 2
Millikin 2, Carthage 1
Elmhurst 3, St. Mary's (Ind.) 1
North Central 3, North Park 1
Non-conference total is 54-18-4 (.7368)
Great win against a great team. The passion of the celebration is what it is all about. Don't tell anyone, but it brought tears to my eyes. Isn't D3 soccer great!!
Can anyone explain for me how a team gets a yellow card? Just curious. Kind of new to this, but haven't seen that before.
A basic answer is unsportsman like conduct or a flagrant foul gets a player a yellow card. Several hard fouls by a player or a questionable foul of a goalie can also get a card. The second incident can get that player a red card. if that happens they are ejected and their team must play a player short the remainder of the game.
Quote from: jellybelly on October 16, 2009, 02:18:12 PM
Can anyone explain for me how a team gets a yellow card? Just curious. Kind of new to this, but haven't seen that before.
I think this original question was about how a "team" itself gets cautioned. I've only seen that used to warn the bench, i.e. the head coach.
Correct sean-o, a team yellow or red card is shown to a coach or assistant coach,trainer. Saw it happen at this years Johns Hopkins Tournament where the Washington coach was yellow carded two seperate times then shown the gate for persistantly disagreeing with the referee's calls. Came a long way to watch his girls play the remainder of the first game and the second game from the stands.
In this case sean-o is correct. The Wheaton coach wouldn't stop arguing a call and was shown a yellow card.
Rare for the Wheaton bench to object like that - it must have been a tough call.
thanks for clarifying that for me.
Again, just curious, but did the Wheaton coach have a legitimate beef?
Quote from: jellybelly on October 16, 2009, 06:39:54 PM
Again, just curious, but did the Wheaton coach have a legitimate beef?
Maybe. I said in my initial post about the game that I thought it was a disputable penalty that led to the PK. The coach (I believe it was the assistant coach) obviously felt stronger about it. I do think he received the intended effect, as Wheaton received a questionable free kick about 6 minutes later outside the 18 that they converted. I felt at the time that the coach was carrying on to try and fire up his team.
I thought the center in that game worked his butt off trying to keep in the correct position throughout the game. He was not a center that stood still and called the game from a distance. He was huffing and puffing as the game went back and forth. The fouls were 15-9 against Augie.
I was afraid there might be an Augie letdown last night as Augie hosted Westminster 4 days after knocking off Wheaton. Apparently not.
Final score was 11-0 in favor of Augie. Shots were 44-0 and corners were 12-0. Before anyone starts complaining about running up the score, keep this in mind: The backup keeper started the game and only touched the ball 2 or 3 times when an Augie defender played it back. Another starter did not play due to a nagging injury. Substitutions began 15 minutes in and all of the starters were out by the 30 minute mark with the score at 7-0. None of the starters returned after they were removed from the game.
The score was 10-0 at the half and only one more goal was scored in the second half. Augie did not go into a shell and play keep away, but rather, many players that don't see a lot of playing time got to participate with some quality minutes.
Hopefully, these two teams will not meet again next year.
October 18, 2009
Wisconsin-Whitewater 4, North Park 3
Elmhurst 2, Webster 1
Augustana 11, Westminster 0
October 17, 2009
North Central 2, Carthage 1
Illinois Wesleyan 1, Dominican 0
Redlands 2, Wheaton 0
Ohio Dominican 4, Millikin 0
Non-conference total is: 57-21-4 (.7195)
October 21, 2009
Elmhurst 2, Carthage 0
Wheaton 7, North Central 0
Illinois Wesleyan 2, Millikin 0
Marian 2, North Park 1
October 19, 2009
Wheaton 8, La Verne 3
Non-conference total is 58-22-4 (.7143)
We're down to the last week of the conference season, and the regular season conference championship is still a 3 horse race. Augie and IWU are both 4-0, while Wheaton is in it at 4-1.
North Central, North Park and Carthage are the only teams that have been eliminated from the conference tournament to date.
Elmhurst and Millikin are battling for the 4th and final spot into the conference tournament, with a head to head game remaining for both. Each team faces a stiff test on their remaining schedule, with Millikin having to face Wheaton, and Elmhurst having to face Augie. With Millikin also having a likely victory against North Park, that 4th and final spot is likely to come down to the head to head match between Elmhurst and Millikin on October 28th at Elmhurst.
The remaining schedule for Augie and IWU favors Augie by a slim margin. Each team has 3 games remaining, with one of them being a head to head match on Saturday. The winner of that head to head match will be the clear favorite to win the regular season conference championship, as that team will be 5-0. However, IWU has remaining games with Wheaton and Carthage, while Augie's remaining games are with North Central and Elmhurst. Slight advantage to Augie. I say slight because while Wheaton is, well Wheaton, Elmhurst is in a must win position to get into the conference tournament.
I know the Augie girls were up for the Wheaton game, as they are every year, but I think they are even more pumped for the IWU game. There has been a nice rivalry that has developed over the years between the two, and this may be the most meaningful game the two have ever played against each other. I don't think anyone outside of either program expected either team to rise in the polls like they have this year. #17 Augie at #3 IWU – both the highest ranking either team has ever achieved.
Let's kick it off already.
North Park defeated Mt. Mary College 20-0 (http://npuvikings.homestead.com/WomensSoccer09/10-23ws.htm). Not a misprint. The Vikings outshot the visitors 59-0.
In case there were still any doubters, Augie is for real: Augie 1, IWU 0.
That makes Augie 5-0-0, Wheaton 5-1-0, and IWU 4-1-0. (Elmhurst, or possibly Millikin, will be the 4th team in the tourney.)
While it could prove fatal, of course, to overlook anyone, I'd have to say the West Vikings are sittin' pretty. Having the tie-break over both Wheaton and IWU, the tourney will likely be in RI (or is this the year for men's leader hosting?) They will only have to beat whoever is #4, plus IWU OR Wheaton. IWU or Wheaton will have to beat the other AND Augie.
Judging from the 2008 tourney locale (Bloomington), I'm assuming this year's tourneys are at Elmhurst (who has already clinched the men's title). IF Elmhurst holds on to be the women's #4, perhaps Augie's likely advantage is reduced a bit!
Quote from: mr_b on October 24, 2009, 09:44:22 PM
North Park defeated Mt. Mary College 20-0 (http://npuvikings.homestead.com/WomensSoccer09/10-23ws.htm). Not a misprint. The Vikings outshot the visitors 59-0.
Marking North Park as not only a 2nd tier program, but also as real jerks. The box score shows one NP kid with 14 shots and 4 goals in a game where the other team only had 8 players (sub much?). Maybe next week they can try to put 30 past the school for the blind. Stay classy N-PU.
Surely there were ways to give the North Park Bench quality playing time without running up the score to this extent. The stats show that the starters scored 13 of the 20 goals. It must have been apparent almost immediately that this was a mismatch. Why not put the bench in much earlier? Why not require a certain number of passes before shooting? Disappointing to see this kind of result. Maybe North Park needs to rethink things.
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on October 25, 2009, 01:20:44 AM
Judging from the 2008 tourney locale (Bloomington), I'm assuming this year's tourneys are at Elmhurst (who has already clinched the men's title). IF Elmhurst holds on to be the women's #4, perhaps Augie's likely advantage is reduced a bit!
The regular season champion hosts the conference tournament so long as they remain alive. In the first round on November 4th, #1 will host #4, and #2 will host #3. The highest remaining seed will host the championship on November 7th.
October 25, 2009
North Central 16, Rockford 0
St. Benedict 2, Carthage 0
October 24, 2009
Wheaton 5, Millikin 1
Carthage 8, Finlandia 0
Augustana 1, Illinois Wesleyan 0
October 23, 2009
North Park 20, Mt. Mary 0
Non-conference total is 61-23-4 (.7159)
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on October 24, 2009, 10:49:17 PM
In case there were still any doubters, Augie is for real: Augie 1, IWU 0.
It was an exciting game on Saturday. It was a defensive battle, and I believe a season low for both teams in terms of shots attempted. IWU led in shots 7-3, with shots on goal being 3-2 in favor of IWU. Fortunately for Augie, they scored on an incredible header with about 3 minutes to go in the first half. That lone goal held up for the 1-0 Augie victory.
IWU had a similar play earlier in the first half, only to have the header barely go over the crossbar. I would say that Augie played better against Wheaton, but that may be partly due to the quality of IWU. I would love to see the IWU/Wheaton game later this week - it should be a battle, as they will likely play again in the conference tournament, and the winner will have home field advantage in that tournament game. The Wheaton field and the IWU field could not be any more different, so home field in that game will be huge.
Augie still has 2 conference games against North Central and Elmhurst. They need to run the table or the big wins against Wheaton and IWU will mean nothing.
Quote from: mr_b on October 24, 2009, 09:44:22 PM
North Park defeated Mt. Mary College 20-0 (http://npuvikings.homestead.com/WomensSoccer09/10-23ws.htm). Not a misprint. The Vikings outshot the visitors 59-0.
In a similar game, North Central beat Rockford 16-0, outshooting Rockford 49-1. http://www.northcentralcardinals.com/custompages/WSOC/WSOC09/game16.htm (http://www.northcentralcardinals.com/custompages/WSOC/WSOC09/game16.htm)
But if you look at the stats, North Central appears to have only played 8 against Rockford to even up the playing field, unlike North Park who played 11 v 8.
Nice catch radchii, I didn't even notice that.
I hope North Central only plays 8 against Augie on Wednesday. ;D
Quote from: DIIIdad on October 26, 2009, 12:19:51 PM
Quote from: mr_b on October 24, 2009, 09:44:22 PM
North Park defeated Mt. Mary College 20-0 (http://npuvikings.homestead.com/WomensSoccer09/10-23ws.htm). Not a misprint. The Vikings outshot the visitors 59-0.
In a similar game, North Central beat Rockford 16-0, outshooting Rockford 49-1. http://www.northcentralcardinals.com/custompages/WSOC/WSOC09/game16.htm (http://www.northcentralcardinals.com/custompages/WSOC/WSOC09/game16.htm)
Per NAthCon women's soccer standings link, Rockford cancelled the rest of its' season.
I was just looking at the Rockford schedule, and saw that they actually played Mt. Mary early in the season. Neither team could put 11 players on the field, but Mt. Mary won the game 6-1. Rockford has 12 on their roster - perhaps they have injury issues.
Congrats to Augie for their highest ranking ever at No. 10 in the new Top 25. And although IWU falls in the polls, they are still looking good.
This is by far the strongest CCIW showing in women's soccer history. It is good for the conference for Wheaton to be thought of as the third best ranked team. Should the conference get three teams in (and they should), all three should have a strong shot at getting into the second round - or perhaps the third, depending on whether someone gets shipped out to Puget Sound, or down to Trinity.
Oct 27
NPU 5, MSOE 0
Oct 28
Millikin 1, Elmhurst 0
Augie 1, NCC 0
Wheaton 4, IWU 0
With their win, Augie clinched first seed, and at least a share of the title
Final action Saturday:
3-3 Elmhurst @ 6-0 Augie
0-6 Carthage @ 4-2 IWU
1-5 NPU @ 3-3 Millikin
Barring a major upset somewhere, the tourney seeds would appear to be:
1. Augie
2. Wheaton
3. IWU
4. Millikin
Final regular season non-con record:
62-23-4 (.7191)
Actually, due to head-to-head tie-breaks, those four seeds are set in stone unless major upsets occur in both Rock Island AND Decatur (in which case Elmhurst is #4).
So it looks like Nov 4 will see IWU going to Wheaton, and Augie hosting Millikin.
Final conference game tomorrow for Augie as they host Elmhurst. I know they want to run the table, but I have a feeling Elmhurst is going to come out clawing for their lives. The odds are certainly stacked against them; even a win against Augie will not be enough unless Millikin loses to North Park. Augie just has a problem playing down to the level of their competition, and that won't take you very far - in the conference tournament or the NCAA tournament.
Augie 4-1 over Elmhurst. First conference championship for the program. Millikin in first round on Wednesday.
CCIW Tournament:
November 4, 2009
Millikin at Augie 7 PM
IWU at Wheaton 7 PM
The winners meet on November 7th at the highest remaining seed.
Ill. Wesleyan advances to the finals over Wheaton on PKs (3-1), after finishing tied at one.
Some notes:
Wheaton was the better team in the second half and overtimes, but they just didn't look as efficient as they have in the past. I've seen the Thunder play twice this year, and both times, Taryne Lee was off compared to her extremely high standards. She did rip off one sudden cross along the ground late, but she was not sharp with her shot.
Ali Koppelman had a chance to finish things with a breakaway in OT, but she didn't pick out a spot and her hard, dead-center shot was popped out for a corner.
Officially it goes down as a tie, which is the best the loser of this game could hope for. In my opinion, Wheaton has to root hard for Augustana in the CCIW finals. If Ill. Wesleyan pulls off the upset and Chicago gets a win or draw (and Wash U thus doesn't pick up the UAA), then Wheaton would be No. 4 in line in the Central. With 21 bids across eight regions—and the Central this year being a two-conference region—that's a very tight chance.
If Augustana wins, then Wheaton will probably be ahead of Ill. Wesleyan because of last week's result (and a significantly tougher schedule).
With the references to Augie in the final, everyone probably already figured it out.
But, just in case, Augie demolished Millikin, 5-0.
My guess is the CCIW gets three teams in regardless, but just in case, GO TITANS! ;D
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on November 05, 2009, 12:02:43 AM
With the references to Augie in the final, everyone probably already figured it out.
But, just in case, Augie demolished Millikin, 5-0.
My guess is the CCIW gets three teams in regardless, but just in case, GO TITANS! ;D
It was a good win for Augie. When they play like that, the sky is the limit. They controlled from the opening whistle and were even able to get 11 subs into the game, including the backup keeper. The only concern was an unknown injury that kept the leading scorer out of the game entirely. Hopefully she will return Saturday or next week.
The scary thing about this team is that I don't think they know how good they can be. The starting lineup last night had 6 sophomores and 2 freshman. The three seniors that started last night add the perfect balance to the youthful exuberance of the team. They've been there and keep things in perspective for the those going through this for the first time.
It should be interesting to see the rematch with IWU on Augie's home field. While it is nice that IWU has a stand-alone soccer complex, the field itself is a joke. A smallish natural grass surface that kept the game very slow. Saturday's game will be on Augie's artificial turf and the game should be much faster. Although, the artificial turf didn't seem to bother IWU last night at Wheaton.
As can be seen from the Wheaton/IWU game last night, it is tough to beat a team twice in one season. Augie will have to play better than they did in the first meeting where they only had 3 shots. That game was a defensive battle as both teams had their season low in shots.
As for the NCAA tournament, I think IWU's win over Wheaton last night sealed their spot. They had been stumbling, but I think they are safe regardless of Saturday's result. I agree with Mr. Ypsi that the CCIW will have 3 teams in the tourney come next week.
Well, I wouldn't bank IWU's chances solely on yesterday. Remember that the result goes down as a tie, not a win. If they beat Augie, obviously they are in. If they lose (and not in PKs) they will actually be worse off for the week than Wheaton. And Wheaton still holds that advantage head to head (1-0-1).
Keep in mind that advancement in conference tournament is not a criterion for NCAA selection. That's not to say the CCIW can't get three teams. That might just depend on circumstances from these realigned regions, if Wash U wins the UAA and other conference tourneys around the nation. Root for the favorites is all I'm saying.
Here's to the CCIW and it's chances of 3 teams in the tournament. How does it work? Are the tournament games played at neutral, pre-selected sites or do the higher seeds host early round games?
Congratulations to Augie, winner 1-0 over the Titans this evening.
While I remain reasonably confident the CCIW will get three teams in the tourney, the Titans and Thunder will just have to cross their fingers until Monday.
I think Wheaton has the upper hand for spot number two since the Illinois Wesleyan "loss" will be looked at by the committee as a tie. So in the tourney, Wheaton has a tie, while IWU has a tie and a loss. That said, I do believe that we'll see all three teams in the tourney.
Hosts are usually the higher seeded teams.
Quote from: Jim Matson on November 08, 2009, 03:30:37 AM
I think Wheaton has the upper hand for spot number two since the Illinois Wesleyan "loss" will be looked at by the committee as a tie. So in the tourney, Wheaton has a tie, while IWU has a tie and a loss. That said, I do believe that we'll see all three teams in the tourney.
Hosts are usually the higher seeded teams.
Yep, the really important thing was Wash U getting the UAA auto qualifier despite losing to Chicago. (Unbelievable that Case was able to tie both Rochester teams.)
I'd say it's a definite that Chicago, Wheaton and Ill. Wesleyan get at-large berths now, and it will be in that order. I don't see the Central getting a fourth team -- There's not really a credible candidate outside of Calvin, who will be on the board but probably not make it.
The problem with predictions this year is that we don't really know how the regional realignment will affect the national process.
My bet is that Chicago hosts a bracket with Wheaton, unless the NCAA decides to send either to Augustana.
Here's hoping neither of those teams gets anywhere near Rock Island.
Quote from: DIIIdad on November 08, 2009, 03:18:38 PM
Here's hoping neither of those teams gets anywhere near Rock Island.
My wish is granted.
Augie will host:
Albion
Wis.-Stevens Point and
St. Thomas (MN)
They would only see any of Chicago, Wheaton, WashU or IWU if they get through to their sectional and Augie gets through to its sectional.
First, Augie has to beat Albion, and then the winner of Stevens Point v. St. Thomas.
I would say that Augie has a slightly easier bracket than does Illinois Wesleyan or Wheaton. I think Chicago is good this year, especially at home. Wash U is also a strong team to get by.
Stevens Point will be the best team that Augie faces, but they are down a bit this season compared to past seasons.
Quote from: Jim Matson on November 09, 2009, 01:21:45 PM
I would say that Augie has a slightly easier bracket than does Illinois Wesleyan or Wheaton. I think Chicago is good this year, especially at home. Wash U is also a strong team to get by.
Stevens Point will be the best team that Augie faces, but they are down a bit this season compared to past seasons.
Stevens Point is definitely down. Can't lose one of the most dynamic duos in the region--Weisse and Prawat--and expect to be as dangerous. When I saw them early in the season they were a longball team. That can work in the postseason, though. Teams will throw up extra attackers to deal with the packed-box defense, and UWSP can catch them by finding one of their several athletic forwards. It's just not so connected up top anymore.
Wheaton senior forward Taryne Lee was named CCIW Player of the Year for the third-straight year on Monday. Lee has 97 career goals.
The Thunder had six players named All-Conference.
http://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2009/11/10/WSOC_1110093713.aspx?path=wsoccer
Wheaton beat Carleton 3-1 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Taryne Lee tallied three assists. She is now Top 10 in Career Points Scored in NCAA Division III history with 245 total points.
I heard that they played well today. The big test for Wheaton will be tomorrow's match against Chicago. Over the years, this has become a great soccer rivalry. Both teams are tough this season, but Chicago has an advantage here - I think the Maroons are a btetr team than Wheaton, and they are playing at home.
But, Wheaton is in the post-season, a place in which they really do well. They have been in 4 out of the previous 5 NCAA national championship matches, winning 3 of 4.
Should be a very good 90 minutes (or more) of soccer.
Quote from: The_Swede on November 10, 2009, 01:52:39 AM
Wheaton senior forward Taryne Lee was named CCIW Player of the Year for the third-straight year on Monday. Lee has 97 career goals.
The Thunder had six players named All-Conference.
http://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2009/11/10/WSOC_1110093713.aspx?path=wsoccer
Geez, as a Titan fan, it is about time she graduated! :o ;D
Congratulations to Taryne Lee! :)
It was a nice weekend for Augie as they have advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. Even better is the news that they will host the Sectional on November 20-21. The games will match Augie v. Calvin and Wheaton v. Wash U.
Augie won their 1st round game against Albion 2-1, although I don't think the game was as close as the score line. Augie dominated in every category, scoring their first goal in the 3rd minute. Shots were 20-6 and corners were 7-1 in favor of Augie. Albion did lead in fouls by a whopping 18-4 margin. Albion's lone goal came in the first minute of the second half on a nice strike from distance that deflected off of an Augie defender's head and into the net.
The second round win was a 1-0 shutout of Stevens Point. The Pointer's keeper played a great game keeping them in the contest until the final horn. Shots favored Augie 13-10, but shots on goal were 7-2 in favor of Augie, with Stevens Point getting 0 shots on goal in the second half.
Alas, Augie fell to Calvin, 2-1. Story on the front page, but anyone have more 'color'?
Wheaton loses to WashU on Pk's.
Wheaton really controlled play all night but couldn't bury the goal they needed. Kopelman had two great chances but put one off the crossbar and one wide right. Lee had two good ones as well (save and wide right). The front three (Bergh, Lee, Kopelman) for Wheaton had all kinds of space to run in but just couldn't break the goal. Bergh even had an open night opportunity but couldn't get the foot on the ball. Definitely a game the Thunder should have won.
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on November 20, 2009, 10:58:05 PM
Alas, Augie fell to Calvin, 2-1. Story on the front page, but anyone have more 'color'?
I was at the game, and all I can say is that last night, Calvin was the better team. Augie came out flying for the first ten minutes or so, but Calvin was able to sustain the pressure without conceding any goals. Augie did score first, but Calvin slowly turned the tide and eventually took over the game.
Calvin dominated in all statistical categories, and clearly deserved to win the game last night. It was the first time all season that another team was able to make the defensive back line of Augie look disorganized. I can't really explain the play of Augie other than to point out that 8 of the starters are either sophomores or freshmen, and they have never been in this situation before. I do believe their best years are still ahead of them, and that this team will be back even better next year.
As for tonight's game between Calvin and Wash U, I give the nod to Calvin if, and only if, they can play to the level they showed last night against Augie. Of course, Wash U has a more seasoned team with post season experience, so that may prove impossible.
Final Postseason NSCAA Poll out today. Central region (and CCIW) well represented with:
2. Wash U
9. Augie (CCIW)
12. Wheaton (CCIW)
15. Calvin
22. Chicago
24. Illinois Wesleyan (CCIW)
Best year ever for Augie...yet. Wait 'till next year. I'm predicting final four next year. No pressure ladies.
Wheaton College senior forward Taryne Lee was named an NSCAA First Team All-American for the third-straight year on Tuesday. Here's the complete list: http://www.nscaa.com/articles/20091207214524528.php
Any rumors insights on the recruiting front for the CCIW schools?
In CCIW women's soccer, Augie was picked by the coaches to defend its title.
http://cciw.org/fall_soccer_w/2010preseasonwspoll.php
I'm not sure, but this may be the first time in conference history that anyone other than Wheaton has been picked to win the conference.
Can't wait for the season to start.
Two preseason scrimmages for Augie and no goals scored. A 1-0 loss to St. Ambrose, and a 0-0 tie with the Rockford Dactyls club team. I did not see the Ambrose game, but was told that Augie controlled play and just couldn't finish. I did see the Dactyls game and saw again that Augie had many chances that were not finished. More concerning was the number of chances that the Dactyls had.
I think that once the season begins on 9/1 Augie will be fine. There are too many goal scorers on the Augie roster to continue to go scoreless. Also, many players were playing in different situations so that they could be seen and evaluated. Once the regular rotations go into place, I'm hoping they will show the form from last season.
A big question mark for this team is where the leadership on the field will come from. There are only two seniors on the roster this season. Someone from the junior or sophomore class is going to have to step up and show some leadership on the field. There is plenty of character on this team so hopefully they get this figured out quickly.
Cornell in Mt. Vernon, Iowa on Wednesday.
Quote from: DIIIdad on August 30, 2010, 11:06:56 AM
I think that once the season begins on 9/1 Augie will be fine. There are too many goal scorers on the Augie roster to continue to go scoreless.
Cornell in Mt. Vernon, Iowa on Wednesday.
Augie got fine in a hurry. 23 seconds into the first game, the floodgates opened. Augie beat Cornell 10-0, completely dominating every facet of the game. Shots on goal favored Augie 23-0, shot attempts 34-0, corners 6-0. This against a Cornell team that returned 10 starters from last season.
Really not much to take from this game. Next up is Coe on 9/5.
Three teams in the Top 25. And Wheaton is trailing Augie and Illinois Wesleyan. A new dawn for women's CCIW soccer has Wheaton as the outsider looking in. Probably about time, right Vikings and Titans?
Quote from: Jim Matson on September 21, 2010, 09:23:37 PM
Three teams in the Top 25. And Wheaton is trailing Augie and Illinois Wesleyan. A new dawn for women's CCIW soccer has Wheaton as the outsider looking in. Probably about time, right Vikings and Titans?
How about three teams in the top 10? IWU at 4, Augie at 6 and Wheaton at 10.
Although, I still don't think Wesleyan has been tested. Originally the wins over Chicago and WashU looked good, but neither of those teams is even ranked anymore. Their remaining games are all CCIW games where anything can happen.
Wheaton's two losses are to Loras and Calvin, both ranked. They have a match-up with UW Stevens Point today that should be telling.
Augie has a win over Loras and a tie with Calvin, and has only allowed 1 goal this season. The question remains whether they can score enough to win.
Conference games have started and it will be fun to see it play out the rest of the way.
Quote from: DIIIdad on October 05, 2010, 03:56:55 PM
Originally the wins over Chicago and WashU looked good, but neither of those teams is even ranked anymore. Their remaining games are all CCIW games where anything can happen.
For what it is worth, Washington University is no longer in the rankings, with five losses on the season. One loss was a 1-0 loss to a Division I opponent on the road. Two were 1-0 overtime losses against teams that the Bears outplayed, but to no avail. And, two, obviously were to stronger CCIW teams on the road. And, Chicago only has three losses against ranked teams. One or both of these wins should matter again.
I attended homecoming at IWU this weekend (my 40th anniversary - geez are my classmates old ::)).
The football team upheld my wishes and scored two TDs in the last two minutes of the first half to put away NPU, so I was able to catch all of the IWU/NCC game. Several regulars commented that the Titans (and presumably the Cards as well) were showing less speed and hustle than usual - understandable, as it was probably over 100 degrees on the pitch! 90% of the game was played on the NCC end of the pitch, but the Titans could get no finishes early, and it was 0-0 at the half. In the second, the Titans lowered the boom, scoring in the 4th and 8th minutes, then allowing me to seek air conditioning by adding a third with about 9 minutes remaining. According to the write-up, the Titans outshot the Cards 19 to ZERO.
I realize the Cards are not really a worthy measuring stick, but I came away feeling the Titans are probably worthy of their #4 ranking.
Quote from: DIIIdad on October 05, 2010, 03:56:55 PM
Quote from: Jim Matson on September 21, 2010, 09:23:37 PM
Three teams in the Top 25. And Wheaton is trailing Augie and Illinois Wesleyan. A new dawn for women's CCIW soccer has Wheaton as the outsider looking in. Probably about time, right Vikings and Titans?
How about three teams in the top 10? IWU at 4, Augie at 6 and Wheaton at 10.
How about three in the top 8? IWU still at 4, Augie still at 6 and Wheaton up to 8. According to D3soccer, no women's soccer conference has ever had three of the top eight spots in a top 25 national poll. Pretty impressive.
Yep!
I just noticed that the Titans are so far unscored upon in the CCIW!
Bur it looks like the conference season doesn't REALLY begin until Augie, Wheaton, and the Titans start playing each other. Coming soon to a pitch near you! ;D (Alas, not near me. :()
Having three in the top eight is fantastic, but even better would be five in the top twenty-five - or how about seven or eight in the top fifty?! :o
Augie is at Wheaton this Wednesday (20th) and hosts IWU on the 23rd. Wheaton and IWU play at IWU on the 27th.
Since they will start knocking each other out today, I'd better take this last chance to note that the CCIW now has 3 of the top SEVEN spots in the poll! ;D
I was mildly surprised to see Wheaton 2 and Augie 3 in the first regional rankings, but I guess any discussion on that will be rendered moot in about 3 hours! ;)
Apparently they got it right. Wheaton dominated every phase of the game in a 4-1 beatdown.
Well, 120 minutes wasn't time enough to resolve the issue - the Titan/Viking game ends scoreless.
Wheaton's game in Bloomington on Wednesday is almost certainly for the regular-season title. But the three of them will certainly butt heads again in the conference tourney, and perhaps even in the national tourney.
This was a nice bounce back for Augie against a quality team. The game was like a track meet up and down the field both ways. It was statistically even with Augie outshooting IWU 13-12 and shots on goal 5-4, with IWU holding a 2-1 edge in corners.
After seeing Wheaton and IWU, I'll be surprised if Wheaton loses on Wednesday. But, anything can happen in a CCIW match.
Wheaton at IWU, likely for the CCIW regular season championship.
The CCIW tournament field is set with Wheaton, IWU, Augie and Millikin. The only question that remains is the final order. Millikin finishes at Wheaton, so they will likely finish 4-3 and in 4th. Augie hosts North Central tonight and finishes at Elmhurst on Saturday. Two wins would put them at 5-1-1, whereas two losses would put them at 3-3-1. Of course, given their lack of scoring this season, the more likely scenario is two ties, putting them at 3-1-3. Either way, they would need help to move into second, as IWU currently holds the second tie breaker of goal differential in conference at +10 (Augie is only at +2). Augie would need Wheaton to put a big number on the board tonight, as well as themselves putting up big numbers against their two remaining opponents for any hope of moving into second place.
With all of that, I predict the following final order:
1. Wheaton
2. IWU
3. Augie
4. Millikin
We'll see...
Wheaton 3, IWU 1. :(
So far, I know nothing except the box score - the Thunder only needed 2 saves the entire game (none in the second half). :o That doesn't sound like the Titans. :P
I was pleased with the respect the CCIW has gotten in the national poll. Despite a loss and a tie, Augie only fell to 8th, so the conference still has 3 of the top 8 (IWU 3rd, Wheaton 5th, though that will obviously change after today.)
DIIIdad's order for the conference tourney looks highly probable.
Gotta be impressed with the folks who do the regional rankings. Last week they moved Wheaton ahead of Augie BEFORE Wheaton won on Wednesday. This week, they moved Wheaton ahead of IWU BEFORE Wheaton won on Wednesday.
The late Paul the Octopus had nothing on these folks! ;D
The Augie bus is on its way to IWU for tonight's conference semi-final. There will be no tie tonight, although I wouldn't be surprised if this goes to PK's.
Wesleyan wins in PK's.
To elaborate (slightly - I'm just going by the CCIW site), the game was 1-1 (unlike the 0-0 finish a couple of weeks ago).
Wheaton beat Millikin, 3-0.
IWU @ Wheaton for the AQ. Hopefully all of the 'big 3' will make the national tourney.
It's nil-nil at the half in Wheaton.
By all stats (and my short time watching a 2"x3" screen :P), the game really does appear to be as close as the score!
120 minutes, and still no score!
If I'm reading livestats correctly, I believe IWU won in the shootout, 3-1! ;D
Both these teams (as well as Augie) obviously belong in the national tourney.
Good to see I haven't lost all my marbles - the conference site has confirmed that IWU wins the AQ with a 0-0, 3-1 shootout victory! ;D
The Titan keeper is, well, a keeper! 18 saves during the game, and 3 of 4 Wheaton shootout attempts no good! (No info on the shootouts - whether all were 'saves' or some were 'misses'.)
I watched the entire IWU/Wheaton game on WETN. It was really a great game between two outstanding teams.
Congratulations to coach Barrett and the Titans. This alum was very proud of how hard you played today.
(And Alli Novak was just outstanding.)
The Titans play Washington & Jefferson @ 11:00am (ET) Saturday at Denison in Granville, Ohio.
http://www.iwusports.com/news/2010/11/8/WSOC_1108103944.aspx?path=wsoc
The bracket...
http://www.ncaa.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/ncaa/sports/w-soccer/auto_pdf/2010d3wsoccerbracket2
Wheaton is hosting a 4-team pod that also includes Augustana. The Thunder play Lawrence and the Vikings get Carleton. (IWU is in a different quadrant than Wheaton/Augie.)
Good luck to the 3 CCIW teams in the field.
Looks to be a pretty favorable draw for the Thunder other than Augustana....If the Thunder can get through Augie it looks like the top half of that bracket can beat themselves out and the Thunder have an easier 3rd round game before another tough one in the Quarters.
Tough bracket draw for the Titans though as it looks like they'll have to go through UW-Stevens Point and Loras in order to get to San Antonio
I do like the sound of a Thunder-Titan rematch in San Antonio
That works for me! ;D
I think that the committee ended up ranking Wheaton higher than Illinois Wesleyan in the final regional ranking. This must be a result of how they considered the shoot-out results.
for all theoretical purposes the game goes into the book as a tie so that's how its reflected on both team's records which is most likely what kept Wheaton at the top of the field in the region
Wheaton easily dispatches Lawrence, 3-0 (shot differential was 21-2!).
Augie vs. Carleton should be nearing the end, but I have no news.
Tomorrow, IWU vs. Washington & Jefferson at 11 am (EST).
Dang - Carleton 2, Augie 1 in OT. :(
No other details yet.
very dominant win by Wheaton...they seemed to play their best offensive game of the season and their second string dominated Lawrence in the second half...Lawrence was lucky to keep the score at only 3-0 as Bergh had a shot go off the post, Clark had a sure goal stopped by her own teammate, and they had two lasers off the crossbar in the first ten minutes.
the second game was very entertaining with Augie going up 1-0 in the 56th minute...Carleton scored in the final seven minutes to tie the game on a ball that Augie just couldn't clear.
the game was unfortunately decided on an own goal...officially it may be credited to a Carleton forward due to the official own goal wording but Carleton tried to cross and it went off a defender's leg right into the net. a very entertaining game throughout that the Vikings should have won but unfortunately it was one of those nights.
based on what I saw tonight, it looks like Wheaton will be ending Carleton's season for a third straight year and it may see a similar score to what we saw in the first game.
good luck to the Titans tomorrow night and looking forward to Wheaton taking the next step as well.
The Titans are off to a strong start, scoring in the 10th and 22nd minutes.
They lead 2-0 with about 10 minutes 'til the half.
Less than a minute after I posted, IWU got a goal from the third different player!
This one appears to be over early.
Livestats died after the 68th minute, but IWU was still up 3-0, so I feel pretty confident about the final result! ;)
It appears that IWU decided to bunker down on defense, as after going up 3-0 in the first 35 minutes, that was the final score.
Wheaton and Carleton tied at 1-1 with the 2nd half just underway.
Wheaton starting to pull away - up 3-1 about halfway thru the 2nd.
It's a final now: Wheaton 4, Carleton 1.
impressive second half for the Thunder...moving on to the second weekend. Redlands topped Cal Lutheran 3-0 earlier today so they will move on with the Emory/Lynchburg and Trinity/Hardin-Simmons gams to be played tomorrow. i'll be glad to see one those two Texas teams eliminated as they are both very good squads. it'll be interested to see where the next quadrant will be sent as you could make a case for Wheaton or either of those Texas teams to the centrally located squad of the four. would love to have another weekend at Wheaton but it sounds like it could go either way.
All four of the potential locations require flying the other three, so my guess is that it will go to Hardin-Simmons if they win, and then to either Wheaton or Trinity if Trinity wins. But that is just a guess - warm weather locations might prevail in any case.
Wheaton did what they were capable of doing - putting a number of goals up against a skilled, but slower team. Carleton has some good talent in their #6 forward, and their #12 is a smart player. But the match-ups just didn't work for their backs - Wheaton just has too much speed, and also some real demonstrated "hunger" for the goal. The weather also helped as Wheaton's speed advantage was levered up by the fact that it was so hard to clear against the wind.
Dennison draws first blood on a rebound from a save; 29th minute.
At the half - Dennison 1, IWU 0.
Titans picking up the offensive pressure, with 4 shots on goal in the first 25 minutes of the 2nd vs. 1 in all the the first, but still can't find the net. But Dennison gets a header goal in the 71st minute.
Titans trail 2-0, with less than 14 minutes left - looking grim. :(
The best season in Titan soccer history came to a premature close today in Granville. We won the statistics (16-10 on shots, 6-2 on corners), but lost the scoreboard, 2-0. :(
(What I would assume is a rarity in college soccer - Dennison used NO subs.)
Well, Thunder, it is now up to you alone - the Vikings and Titans coldn't get 'er done. Represent the conference well. :)
congrats to the Titans on a terrific season that as previously mentioned came to a premature close
I agree Ypsi. Too bad. But a good run and yet another great season.
They had a team that could have made the Final Four, but should have been in the Sweet 16. But on the road and under pressure....
Great Titan team and a strong performance in winning the AQ.
Emory tops Lynchburg 1-0 in 2 OT and Hardin-Simmons beats Trinity 2-1 so it will be Emory, Hardin-Simmons, Redlands, and Wheaton for a trip to San Antonio.
Looks like it's a toss-up between Hardin-Simmons and Wheaton to host with both being somewhat centrally located. It's definitely going to require flying for the other three teams and while Hardin-Simmons might have the advantage weather wise, Wheaton has plenty of experience hosting in the second weekend and the advantage of having two major airports in Chicago might be enough to swing it Wheaton's way...and just via the facilities, it looks like Wheaton has the edge as well.
http://hsuathletics.com/genrel/Soccer_Field (http://hsuathletics.com/genrel/Soccer_Field)
http://athletics.wheaton.edu/custompages/gallery/soccer/ (http://athletics.wheaton.edu/custompages/gallery/soccer/)
I feel bad for the CCIW that Augie went out first game and IWU the second. If we could only get one team to the sweet 16, it may be a LONG time before we have three teams ranked in the top seven again! :-[
So, Thunder, win it all - then when Augie and IWU whup you next season, we can all look good again! :D
[Did I mention that the three goals IWU had yesterday were by two frosh and a soph? ;D Now if we have a good keeper to replace Ali Novak (two frosh on the squad, but I know nothing about either)....]
Augie didn't deserve to win. They scored the goal to go up 1 - nil then the forwards and midfielders stopped playing hard. Story of the season.
The Vikes seemed to have the advantage in chances, even though they were outshot on the match. With such a strong defensive performance all season long, they really shouldn't have allow Carleton those chances in the last 10 minutes. But Carleton had a plan and it showed.
for those curious, WETN will not have their own coverage of this weekend's soccer matches due to travel issues but Hardin-Simmons will have a live telecast that WETN has linked off of their page
http://www.wheaton.edu/wetn/ (http://www.wheaton.edu/wetn/)
Kickoff vs. Emory at 1:30 PM
incredibly tough loss for the Thunder today in Abilene. Lost in PKs that went 12 rounds. They had a chance to end it in five but Kopelman missed and eventually Brait missed the second time around.
Congrats to the Thunder on an outstanding season and 6th consecutive trip to the Sweet 16. This is going to be a powerhouse team next year as Brittany Bergh is the lone senior on the team.
Conference play finally gets underway later today: IWU @ NPU. For at least four days, someone will be the undisputed first-place team! (I'm betting on IWU. ;))
So far a very impressive non-con record, but plenty of matches still to go. Only one team below .500 (c'mon NPU - AFTER Saturday :P).
Very dominant performance tonight for the Thunder against a young Ohio Wesleyan team at the Bean. Wheaton outshot the Bishops 39-1 in a 4-0 victory that could have easily been much much worse. Wheaton possessed the ball probably around 80% of the game with a huge majority of that being in the attacking third. The Thunder look every bit the part of a team that deserves to be mentioned as one of the best in the country having not given up a goal now in two weeks.
I was surprised to see CCIW games starting already tonight since Wheaton doesn't kick off CCIW play for another couple of weeks but I guess that's just the way it goes.
I have no idea why the IWU @ NPU game was four days earlier than any other conference game, but for the moment IWU is all alone in first place. I can live with that! ;D
I haven't matched up men's and women's schedules, but my impression is that most matches are 'co-ed double-headers'. On the men's board, I tried to propose a new scoring system: add the two scores together! Since the Viking men won 4-0, while the Titan women won 5-0, that comes to IWU 5, NPU 4. I wasn't very successful in my efforts! :P
How many more years must I enjoy/endure women being nationally competitive and men rarely making the conference tourney? I guess I'll just remember that it isn't long since they both were terrible! 8-) Perhaps some day soon they can both be what Wheaton has been (though their [Wheaton's] men seem in a tailspin this year).
After defeating CMS 2-1 last night in a hard fought match, Chapman's Women's team is in route to the Chicago area to take on a 10-3 Aurora team on Friday, followed by a contest Sunday at 7-2 IWA, then back to the Chicago area on Monday to take on an 8-2 Elmhurst squad. A lot of miles in
a short time.
4 matches in 6 days will challenge our young team, let alone against some stiff competition. I am glad that our coach is willing to schedule out of the area matches and justify the costs by scheduling what appears to be tough competition.
If any midwest posters catch any of the action, I would be interested in reading your comments.
Elmhurst over Wheaton tonight in OT; first loss of the year for Wheaton. Elmhurst looked strong on the second half and in OT, making Wheaton pay for not converting when they had the chance.
Congrats to the Blue Jays on a well-played match.
I see by the front page that Wheaton (A) and IWU (C) both made the tourney, but the bracket won't load for me (says 'page not found') - anyone know who, when, and where they'll be playing?
Wheaton hosts Penn St-Behrend on Friday presumably at 7:30, with the winner playing either Capital or Alma.
http://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2011/11/6/WSOC_ncaa1.aspx (http://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2011/11/6/WSOC_ncaa1.aspx)
IWU plays Ithaca at Ohio Northern. Date/time not announced yet. Winner plays ONU or Scranton
Thanks!
With Wheaton hosting despite being west of all other teams, I assume they must be a fairly solid favorite in their pod.
Know anything about Ithaca?
felske could sit ALL his starters and still be psu-behrend. this will be a laugher.
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on November 07, 2011, 04:31:49 PM
Thanks!
With Wheaton hosting despite being west of all other teams, I assume they must be a fairly solid favorite in their pod.
Know anything about Ithaca?
I don't know much. They went 11-3-3, with their best win seemingly being in the season opener against The College of New Jersey. I would think IWU is the favorite.
Quote from: Backseat Driver on November 07, 2011, 06:26:11 PM
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on November 07, 2011, 04:31:49 PM
Thanks!
With Wheaton hosting despite being west of all other teams, I assume they must be a fairly solid favorite in their pod.
Know anything about Ithaca?
I don't know much. They went 11-3-3, with their best win seemingly being in the season opener against The College of New Jersey. I would think IWU is the favorite.
More info on Ithaca: http://bombers.ithaca.edu/news/2011/11/7/WSOC_1107112343.aspx (http://bombers.ithaca.edu/news/2011/11/7/WSOC_1107112343.aspx)
Quote from: Backseat Driver on November 07, 2011, 06:29:20 PM
Quote from: Backseat Driver on November 07, 2011, 06:26:11 PM
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on November 07, 2011, 04:31:49 PM
Thanks!
With Wheaton hosting despite being west of all other teams, I assume they must be a fairly solid favorite in their pod.
Know anything about Ithaca?
I don't know much. They went 11-3-3, with their best win seemingly being in the season opener against The College of New Jersey. I would think IWU is the favorite.
More info on Ithaca: http://bombers.ithaca.edu/news/2011/11/7/WSOC_1107112343.aspx (http://bombers.ithaca.edu/news/2011/11/7/WSOC_1107112343.aspx)
Thanks for the link. I see they have been in as many tourneys as any team in d3 (including the last 9 in a row), and have won two national titles (fortunately, all current players would have been in diapers or not yet born when those happened! ;D) Looks like a formidable opponent, but I agree that IWU is probably a slight favorite; but ONU looks like a heavy favorite for the total pod.
Ithaca is a strong side, but after having watched Illinois Wesleyan twice this season, I think the Titans can prevail. They just need to quit giving up those early goals, and press hard from the start. I think Wesleyan has been playing better as of late and will enter the post-season on a roll.
Wheaton might have an easier pod than they have ever had. But Alma, Capital, and PSU-Behrend are all new faces for them. Best to play like you are facing Hardin-Simmons or William Smith!
not that it should come as a surprise but with wartburg and especially loras being eliminated i think the thunder are a shoo in to host the Sweet 16/Elite 8 rounds and we lose the storylines of having three teams that wheaton has already beat in their pod, as well as having a pair of friday night re-matches. match-ups will be:
Wheaton (20-1-2, CCIW) vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater (14-4-3, WIAC, making 1st ever tournament appearance)
Wash. U (17-4, UAA) vs. St. Benedict (13-6-3, MIAC)
History: Wheaton def. Wash U in St. Louis 2-0 on Sept. 17; Wash U def. Wheaton in PK in Sweet 16 at Augustana in 2009.
Wheaton will host as both the top seed and the most central site. No history at this point! Or least I think....
Just as a PSA:
All games of the Wheaton Quadrant will be televised and broadcast on WETN. Broadcasts can be found at WETN.org and click on the watch live or listen live link on the right side of the page to select which form you would like.
Wheaton defeats Whitewater 4-1. Elite 8 game vs. Wash U/St. Bens will air on WETN tomorrow with a 5 PM kickoff from Joe Bean Stadium
What a game last night at Joe Bean...3 goals in 3 minutes for the Thunder turns a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 advantage and Orewiler adds the insurance in the final five minutes for a 4-2 Thunder victory. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like that. For those of you who were lucky enough to catch the game, congratulations. Congrats to the Thunder as they head back to the Final Four.
Wheaton women are up 2-0 with about 10 minutes to go in the semifinals.
and here we go to the National Championship! Congrats to the Wheaton women on a hard-fought battle!
Which teams will be favored this season? I just found out a couple of former students will be attending two different CCIW schools, so I would like to catch a couple of games this season.
Well considering they've won 3 national titles and made 2 other title games in the last 8 years, my money is on Wheaton coming out on top.
Quote from: blue_jays on July 21, 2012, 11:45:18 AM
Well considering they've won 3 national titles and made 2 other title games in the last 8 years, my money is on Wheaton coming out on top.
Wheaton is in a class by themselves. Who would fight for 2nd and third?
Best guess:
2. IWU
3. Elmhurst
4. Augie
5. Carthage
Thanks! Will try to get to a carthage/iwu/elmhhurst game this season.
The North Central women picked up their first win EVER against Elmhurst. The final was 2-0 and improved the team's record to 4-6, 1-1-0 in CCIW play.
Should be a good match today at Wheaton as Trinity (TX) comes to town. Glad to see the staff at TU scheduling some tough non-conference play outside of the south.
North Central lost to Wheaton 5-0 last night to fall to 1-2 in CCIW play.
North Central and Carthage played to a draw yesterday @ B-W stadium. the Cards are now 1-2-1 in CCIW play.
The North Central women needed OT to defeat Millikin, 2-1 last night. Their season record is now 6-7-2, 2-2-1 in CCIW play.
The North Central women earned a trip to the conference tournament for the first time EVER in program history. They will face #1 seed Augie on Wednesday.
The North Central women were defeated 3-1 by Augastana in the opening round of the CCIW tournament. Augie moves on to play Wheaton on Saturday, Nov. 3 @ Augie @ 6 p.m.
Wheaton beats regular season champ Augie to claim the 2012 tournament champinship.
Congrats to North Central's Hope Stayer on being named First Team All-Conference!
So the undefeated Wheaton women lost 0-1 to th winless in conference Millikin ladies. What a shocker.
First loss to a team with a losing record since 1995, as far as I can tell. But it didn't hurt 'em at all in the post-season.
Here is the Fall 2021 Pre-Season CCIW Poll:
https://cciw.org/news/2021/8/3/wheaton-predicted-to-win-2021-cciw-womens-soccer-title.aspx
NPU's roster is starting to share similarities with the men's roster:
https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/womens-soccer/roster
Not too surprising, but unsure why it's taken so long.
Quote from: Gotberg on August 31, 2021, 09:49:01 AM
NPU's roster is starting to share similarities with the men's roster:
https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/womens-soccer/roster
Not too surprising, but unsure why it's taken so long.
Similar in that there are a lot of Scandanavians, Swedes in particular, but not yet similar in roster size. I counted the North Park men's roster this year and I think that 59 players are on it. I believe that there have been 60+ in other years. I just don't see the advantage of carrying that many on the roster. Someone is always going to be discontented. I also wonder about the organization of training sessions.
That said, the NP men have had a lot of success. We'll see if the women find similar success. Lately, they've been one of the bottom-tier sides in the CCIW.
I know that North Park University was founded by the Evangelical Covenant Church which itself was founded by Swedish immigrants in the late 1800s, but does the school still really hold a strong affiliation with that church? If so, is it enough of affiliation that it would attract so many Swedes and other Scandanavians? I ask because there are many Wesleyan universities, Illinois Wesleyan for instance, that were founded by the United Methodist Church, that are now private liberal arts institutions that are primarily nonsectarian and really only "Wesleyan" in the name. I would be willing to bet that most schools bearing the Wesleyan name are no longer affiliated with the Methodist church.
Quote from: PlaySimple on August 31, 2021, 11:37:03 AM
Quote from: Gotberg on August 31, 2021, 09:49:01 AM
NPU's roster is starting to share similarities with the men's roster:
https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/womens-soccer/roster
Not too surprising, but unsure why it's taken so long.
Similar in that there are a lot of Scandanavians, Swedes in particular, but not yet similar in roster size. I counted the North Park men's roster this year and I think that 59 players are on it. I believe that there have been 60+ in other years. I just don't see the advantage of carrying that many on the roster. Someone is always going to be discontented. I also wonder about the organization of training sessions.
That said, the NP men have had a lot of success. We'll see if the women find similar success. Lately, they've been one of the bottom-tier sides in the CCIW.
I know that North Park University was founded by the Evangelical Covenant Church which itself was founded by Swedish immigrants in the late 1800s, but does the school still really hold a strong affiliation with that church? If so, is it enough of affiliation that it would attract so many Swedes and other Scandanavians? I ask because there are many Wesleyan universities, Illinois Wesleyan for instance, that were founded by the United Methodist Church, that are now private liberal arts institutions that are primarily nonsectarian and really only "Wesleyan" in the name. I would be willing to bet that most schools bearing the Wesleyan name are no longer affiliated with the Methodist church.
The University continues to 'report up' to the church denomination, so yes, there are still strong ties between both. However, I don't' think Scandinavian athletes have any affiliation to the church....but I do think the strong Scandinavian culture at the school has garnered a reputation across the Atlantic. This is likely why there have been multiple Swedish D1 transfers as of late.
In terms of roster size, North Park is a tuition based school, so it's hard to believe the school wouldn't accept the numbers as long as the team's infrastructure can support it. Based on the results over the last decade, that seems to prove they've been able to figure it out.
Quote from: PlaySimple on August 31, 2021, 11:37:03 AM
Quote from: Gotberg on August 31, 2021, 09:49:01 AM
NPU's roster is starting to share similarities with the men's roster:
https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/womens-soccer/roster
Not too surprising, but unsure why it's taken so long.
Similar in that there are a lot of Scandanavians, Swedes in particular, but not yet similar in roster size. I counted the North Park men's roster this year and I think that 59 players are on it. I believe that there have been 60+ in other years.
No, this is the largest number of kits that the NPU men's team has handed out, ever. There were 67 guys listed on the intial roster, but a few walked away (as expected) during preseason training.
The current roster of 27 players is the largest that the NPU women's team has ever had.
Quote from: PlaySimple on August 31, 2021, 11:37:03 AMI just don't see the advantage of carrying that many on the roster. Someone is always going to be discontented. I also wonder about the organization of training sessions.
It's not deliberate. A substantial number of the local players are, if not actual walk-ons, at least players who chose NPU without a lot of work being put in on them on the part of the coaches. North Park is obviously a big sell locally due to the program's success. While it can be hard to coach that many players with the limited staff available, the advantage is that some of those guys who are going to NPU but will be strictly JV material are players whom a Carthage or a Dominican or a North Central wanted but didn't get.
North Park is a D3 school. That means that if you pay the money to go there, you deserve the chance to be handed a kit and put on the roster. That doesn't mean that you're ever going to see the pitch in a varsity game, and the coaching staff certainly isn't promising that.
Quote from: PlaySimple on August 31, 2021, 11:37:03 AMThat said, the NP men have had a lot of success. We'll see if the women find similar success. Lately, they've been one of the bottom-tier sides in the CCIW.
Not just lately; NPU has
almost always been bottom-tier in CCIW women's soccer. The Vikings have never qualified for the four-team CCIW tournament, which has been played annually (aside from last season) since 2002. They haven't finished in the top half of the league since 1998, and they've finished last or next-to-last for six straight seasons now.
Quote from: PlaySimple on August 31, 2021, 11:37:03 AMI know that North Park University was founded by the Evangelical Covenant Church which itself was founded by Swedish immigrants in the late 1800s, but does the school still really hold a strong affiliation with that church?
Yes, very much so, although the percentage of undergrads who are from Covenant churches has plummeted dramatically over the past two decades.
Quote from: PlaySimple on August 31, 2021, 11:37:03 AMIf so, is it enough of affiliation that it would attract so many Swedes and other Scandanavians?
The denominational affiliation of the school really doesn't have any impact upon drawing international students from the Scandinavian countries, because those countries are probably the most secularized and post-Christian countries in the world. What draws Swedish and Norwegian student-athletes to the school, apart from the fact that it's always nice to go to another country and find an institution that shares your ethnic heritage, is its Chicago location and the fact that there has been a fairly large population of Scandinavians in the undergrad population for many years. Sticking strictly to soccer, the Vikings men's program has had Swedes since the first season of the program (1981). After the waning of a brief period in the early '90s in which there were several Norwegians on the team, Norwegians became a very prominent part of the roster starting about five or six years ago.
But, again, that has nothing to do with the school's religious affiliation. The reason why soccer players from Norway and Sweden come to North Park is simple: they're recruited. The NPU men's program has put a lot of time and effort into recruiting in Scandinavia beginning with the arrival of John Born as head coach in the late '90s and continuing with current head coach Kris Grahn (who is himself a Swede and a former NPU All-American midfielder), and it's turned into a genuine pipeline. Players go back home and spread the word about the school, and there are now NPU men's soccer alumni who are running soccer academies, camps, and scouting services in Norway and Sweden who help steer their players to the North Side of Chicago.
The women's soccer program has been a different story. There's been a trickle of Norwegian and Swedish players over the years, but nothing like the substantial numbers that the men's soccer program has had. That's because the women's program hasn't tried to copy what the men's program has done in terms of recruiting philosophy. The biggest part of the problem with NPU women's soccer is that the coaching job has continually been a revolving door; in the last decade alone North Park has had five head coaches. And none of them until now, to the best of my knowledge, has made an attempt to recruit in Scandinavia; the Norwegians and Swedes (and at least one Dane) that the Vikings have had over the years were basically just international students who decided on their own to join the team. As a result, they've been good enough to play for North Park -- as is the case throughout Europe, Scandinavian boys and girls learn how to kick a ball basically about the same time that they learn how to walk -- but they haven't been the same type of extremely athletic, highly technical, high-soccer-IQ players as their male Scandinavian counterparts in North Park kits.
That's going to change now. Emma Woodley, who was a star forward for North Park in the last decade as Emma Lundeen, is now the head coach, and she is very intentional about not only utilizing the recruiting connections in Sweden and Norway that the men's program has developed but in going to Scandinavia herself to recruit. When you know the school backwards and forwards the way that she does (she's a fourth- or fifth-generation North Parker whose grandfather worked for the school for decades), and you have already have a template for national success right there on campus in the form of the men's program, why would you
not choose to build around Swedes and Norwegians? Add in the fact that Emma is a highly personable recruiting dynamo (she used to be an admissions officer at NPU), and I think that you can see the possibility that she could really turn North Park women's soccer around. Not overnight, naturally, but over the course of the next few seasons.
Quote from: PlaySimple on August 31, 2021, 11:37:03 AM
I ask because there are many Wesleyan universities, Illinois Wesleyan for instance, that were founded by the United Methodist Church, that are now private liberal arts institutions that are primarily nonsectarian and really only "Wesleyan" in the name. I would be willing to bet that most schools bearing the Wesleyan name are no longer affiliated with the Methodist church.
I think that most "Wesleyan" schools still retain at least a nominal affiliation with the UMC, but the denominational presence and influence, and the recognition of the school's religious heritage, is close to nonexistent at those schools. Most are secular in all but name. Some schools, such as Wesleyan University in Connecticut and the all-women Wesleyan College in Georgia, are completely unaffiliated with any religious organization.
The exceptions are the "Wesleyan" schools that are affiliated with smaller, more conservative denominations in that same Methodist tradition, such as Indiana Wesleyan (Wesleyan Church), Roberts Wesleyan (Free Methodist Church), Oklahoma Wesleyan (Wesleyan Church), Southern Wesleyan (Wesleyan Church), and Allegheny Wesleyan (Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection).
^ Great info, Gregory. Thank you for sharing.
Hopefully, the NP women's team does start to find some success. The CCIW could use another quality program aside from the usual suspects Wheaton, Illinois Wesleyan, Auggie, etc
Well, NPU did have a pretty good debut today. The Vikings tied Aurora, 1-1, and while Aurora is not exactly a world-beater, it should be noted that the Spartans had beaten NPU seven straight times coming into tonight. The draw was North Park's first non-loss to Aurora since the two teams stalemated by an identical 1-1 score all the way back in 2007. Even though the Vikings were missing two of last spring's starters to injury and had five freshmen in the starting lineup (including the goalkeeper and the entire back line), they performed well enough to legitimately earn the draw. NPU's talent level is significantly higher than it's been, that's for certain, and I'm convinced that Emma Woodley has the program on the right path.
NPU roster posted. Lots of newcomers
https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/womens-soccer/roster
Quote from: Gotberg on August 21, 2022, 06:08:31 PM
NPU roster posted. Lots of newcomers
https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/womens-soccer/roster
There isn't any information on the newcomers listed but in reading through and looking at the surnames I would assume that NP is still getting a lot of Scandinavian athletes.
Quote from: PlaySimple on August 22, 2022, 10:11:54 AM
Quote from: Gotberg on August 21, 2022, 06:08:31 PM
NPU roster posted. Lots of newcomers
https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/womens-soccer/roster
There isn't any information on the newcomers listed but in reading through and looking at the surnames I would assume that NP is still getting a lot of Scandinavian athletes.
Yes, and the first year player commitments were posted on Instagram - still not a lot of detail but at least info from where they hail.
Edited to add the Instagram link: https://www.instagram.com/npuwsoccer/
I might be wrong, but it looks like there were at least 3 transfers too. 2 from NAIA schools and 1 Division 1.
Quote from: PlaySimple on August 22, 2022, 10:11:54 AM
Quote from: Gotberg on August 21, 2022, 06:08:31 PM
NPU roster posted. Lots of newcomers
https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/womens-soccer/roster
There isn't any information on the newcomers listed but in reading through and looking at the surnames I would assume that NP is still getting a lot of Scandinavian athletes.
"A lot" is a relative term. NPU has regularly had Scandinavians on the women's soccer roster, going back to the program's inception in the mid-'90s, just as has the men's team. That's only natural, given North Park's historical ties to Sweden dating back to the school's founding by Swedish immigrants in 1891. Sometimes they wouldn't have any Scandinavian players on the roster, sometimes one or two or even as many as four, but there was an ongoing trickle of players coming from Sweden, Norway, and even Denmark on occasion.
But the various coaches who've run the NPU women's soccer program over the years never really made a concerted effort to recruit in Scandinavia. They more or less took potluck in terms of Scandinavian women showing up at school and wanting to participate on the soccer team. Given how devoted Europeans are to playing soccer from early childhood, their high quality of skills development and coaching in youth soccer, and thus how much more advanced in technical ability Europeans have always been in this sport, even on a walk-on basis they were usually among the best, and sometimes
actually the best, players that the Vikings fielded.
But the coaches never caught on to the fact that the stream of one, two, or three Scandinavians they'd pick up by accident every year could both be expanded and improved in per-player quality if they actually put some effort into it rather than focusing exclusively upon recruiting Americans and then taking any Swedish or Norwegian walk-ons as a sort of pleasant surprise. They could actually recruit over there and improve the quality of what they were getting, and, thus the program, if they were intentional about it. But if any of them even tried, it was a fitful try at best. Most of them, if not all, never even tried.
Most importantly, given how important Swedish and Norwegian players have been to the NPU men's soccer program in lifting the Vikings from the CCIW cellar in the late '90s to first a regional power and now a national power, you'd think that the various NPU women's soccer coaches would want to emulate that success by copying it. You'd think that ... but you'd be wrong. And so the Vikings just muddled along in the CCIW's second division every season, often in the basement. In fact, that is where they've finished in each of the last six seasons; their most recent win in league play was a 1-0 home win over Millikin all the way back in September of 2016.
Enter Emma Woodley, who took over as North Park's head coach in 2020. She herself had been one of the best American players NPU has had over the past couple of decades when she was Emma Lundeen, being named All-CCIW second team in 2013 and All-CCIW first team in 2014. A former North Park admissions counselor and assistant coach, she knew exactly
what kind of player to recruit to North Park and
how to recruit them. And she realized what none of her predecessors ever grasped; North Park has a ready-made pipeline to Scandinavian student-athletes already, and it just needs to be tapped for women's soccer by a coach who is willing to put in the work and use the things in her recruiting pitch that make NPU such an attractive place for Norwegians and Swedes to go to school there.
She's started off by bringing in a lot of quantity, and now the quality is getting better as well. For example, one player to watch this year in the CCIW is NPU's new D1 transfer, center mid Madi Häger. All it took was seeing one scrimmage to convince me that she is the real deal.
The way that the Viking men improved was to increase the quantity and quality of the Scandinavian recruits and find the right mix between them and the American players. That is the formula that Emma Woodley is seeking to use now for the Viking women. I think that it will start to pay dividends this season. I realize that the CCIW coaches have slated NPU to finish at the bottom again this season, but I'm convinced that the Vikings will not only get out of the basement in 2022 but may even make it upward to the middle of the CCIW pack. Rome was not built in a day, but it is conceivable that the Vikings could challenge for the top within the next two or three seasons if Emma can continue to recruit this well and if the NPU program maintains a strong retention rate and isn't overwhelmed by injuries. After all, the ascension of North Central is proof positive that Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan don't automatically have a lock on the league every season.
Quote from: Gregory Sager on August 29, 2022, 06:38:27 PM
Quote from: PlaySimple on August 22, 2022, 10:11:54 AM
Quote from: Gotberg on August 21, 2022, 06:08:31 PM
NPU roster posted. Lots of newcomers
https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/womens-soccer/roster
There isn't any information on the newcomers listed but in reading through and looking at the surnames I would assume that NP is still getting a lot of Scandinavian athletes.
"A lot" is a relative term. NPU has regularly had Scandinavians on the women's soccer roster, going back to the program's inception in the mid-'90s, just as has the men's team. That's only natural, given North Park's historical ties to Sweden dating back to the school's founding by Swedish immigrants in 1891. Sometimes they wouldn't have any Scandinavian players on the roster, sometimes one or two or even as many as four, but there was an ongoing trickle of players coming from Sweden, Norway, and even Denmark on occasion.
But the various coaches who've run the NPU women's soccer program over the years never really made a concerted effort to recruit in Scandinavia. They more or less took potluck in terms of Scandinavian women showing up at school and wanting to participate on the soccer team. Given how devoted Europeans are to playing soccer from early childhood, their high quality of skills development and coaching in youth soccer, and thus how much more advanced in technical ability Europeans have always been in this sport, even on a walk-on basis they were usually among the best, and sometimes actually the best, players that the Vikings fielded.
But the coaches never caught on to the fact that the stream of one, two, or three Scandinavians they'd pick up by accident every year could both be expanded and improved in per-player quality if they actually put some effort into it rather than focusing exclusively upon recruiting Americans and then taking any Swedish or Norwegian walk-ons as a sort of pleasant surprise. They could actually recruit over there and improve the quality of what they were getting, and, thus the program, if they were intentional about it. But if any of them even tried, it was a fitful try at best. Most of them, if not all, never even tried.
Most importantly, given how important Swedish and Norwegian players have been to the NPU men's soccer program in lifting the Vikings from the CCIW cellar in the late '90s to first a regional power and now a national power, you'd think that the various NPU women's soccer coaches would want to emulate that success by copying it. You'd think that ... but you'd be wrong. And so the Vikings just muddled along in the CCIW's second division every season, often in the basement. In fact, that is where they've finished in each of the last six seasons; their most recent win in league play was a 1-0 home win over Millikin all the way back in September of 2016.
Enter Emma Woodley, who took over as North Park's head coach in 2020. She herself had been one of the best American players NPU has had over the past couple of decades when she was Emma Lundeen, being named All-CCIW second team in 2013 and All-CCIW first team in 2014. A former North Park admissions counselor and assistant coach, she knew exactly what kind of player to recruit to North Park and how to recruit them. And she realized what none of her predecessors ever grasped; North Park has a ready-made pipeline to Scandinavian student-athletes already, and it just needs to be tapped for women's soccer by a coach who is willing to put in the work and use the things in her recruiting pitch that make NPU such an attractive place for Norwegians and Swedes to go to school there.
She's started off by bringing in a lot of quantity, and now the quality is getting better as well. For example, one player to watch this year in the CCIW is NPU's new D1 transfer, center mid Madi Häger. All it took was seeing one scrimmage to convince me that she is the real deal.
The way that the Viking men improved was to increase the quantity and quality of the Scandinavian recruits and find the right mix between them and the American players. That is the formula that Emma Woodley is seeking to use now for the Viking women. I think that it will start to pay dividends this season. I realize that the CCIW coaches have slated NPU to finish at the bottom again this season, but I'm convinced that the Vikings will not only get out of the basement in 2022 but may even make it upward to the middle of the CCIW pack. Rome was not built in a day, but it is conceivable that the Vikings could challenge for the top within the next two or three seasons if Emma can continue to recruit this well and if the NPU program maintains a strong retention rate and isn't overwhelmed by injuries. After all, the ascension of North Central is proof positive that Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan don't automatically have a lock on the league every season.
Thanks Greg - I'll try to watch a game this year!
Quote from: Gotberg on August 31, 2022, 11:19:16 AM
Thanks Greg - I'll try to watch a game this year!
Tune in this evening at 7 pm to watch them host Benedictine. It's the first Viking Sports Network livestream of the year. The men's game at Beloit starts at 4 pm, so that will be over by the time that the women start.
while proceeding to the Elmhurst women's basketball pages, noticed this interesting photo :
https://elmhurstbluejays.com/news/2022/9/15/womens-soccer-stung-by-hornets.aspx
stretchy fabric
Gee, no foul there. :D
I am beginning to think that Illinois Wesleyan will win the league this season. North Central was supposed to have been the top dog but their 0-0 draw with a Wheaton side that is down this year shows that they are susceptible. The winner of the IWU vs NC match should be considered to be the top dog in the CCIW. IWU had a rough game eary in the year against a very strong Wartburg teambut since beating a strong UW-La Crosse team 2-1, have been very good and now stand at 6-1-2 and 4-0 in the CCIW. I would not be surprised to see them appear in the top 25 soon. The Titans' two biggest games remaining on the schedule are at the end of the month at North Central and at Wash U. They also have a game against a UW-Whitewater side that always seems to have a lot of fight in them year-to-year.
Contrasting the games that IWU and NC played against Wheaton is interesting. IWU beat Wheaton 5-0 and had 19 shots with 13 on frame. Wheaton, meanwhile, had 7 shots with 4 on frame. NC and Wheaton drew, 0-0. NC had 17 shots with 4 on frame while Wheaton had 13 shots with 4 on frame.
It seems like IWU's new coach, Oz Bakirdan, is getting the program back on track after there was some coaching instability when Dave Barrett went to Fairfield. They had a bad hire followed by an excellent hire in Keri Sanchez but she was short-lived, coaching only one season and leaving for D1 Colorado College. Bakirdan seems to be a good fit and someone that will be at IWu for a bit.
Congrats to the TITANS on the CCIW Tournament Championship -- winning over North Central today 4-1. On to the NCAA tournament.
IWU'70
I'm looking forward to the NPU women playing this year, I think they're on the rise. In addition to the new recruits, they also have a player who sat out last year with high potential, based on her H.S. career - looking forward to the season.
NPU is, indeed, definitely on the rise. And the Vikings will also be fun to watch, since they will have a much more potent offense this season than they've had in ages. I watched NPU scrimmage Concordia (IL) on Wednesday evening, and it was immediately obvious that the talent level is significantly higher than I can ever remember seeing from a North Park women's soccer team since the pre-Y2K era. In particular, there are four players -- freshman forward Morgan Wehseler (the player who sat out last year that Gotberg mentioned), junior midfielder Nora Vangsnes (who started last season for a high-powered NAIA team, Cardinal Stritch, that won its league and made the national tourney), senior midfielder/defender Agnes Bäck (steady and reliable), and freshman midfielder Maja Applequist (a soccer legacy and a Niles West alumna with a very high ceiling at the D3 level) -- who have the potential to join senior CB Lina Bogg on the All-CCIW team in 2023.
That said, the building of the program (can it really be called a rebuilding if the program hasn't had a winning season since 2005?) is far from complete. There's still a hole or two, and the depth still isn't quite there yet in terms of being top-half-of-the-CCIW quality. But Emma Woodley has set up a very strong non-conference schedule that should really prepare the Vikings well for conference play. The Vikings were picked for sixth in the preseason poll, which was where they were frequently picked to finish in the Oughts and the early Teens, but they haven't been picked that high since 2014. (NPU has never been picked to finish higher than sixth since Y2K.) But with consistent play, no major health setbacks, and a break here or there, it's conceivable that the Vikings could sneak into the first division and qualify for the CCIW tourney.
Realistically, I don't think anybody's going to catch North Central, aside from perhaps Illinois Wesleyan (and that seems like a longshot). After those two, there seems to be an enormous gap before you get to the middle of the pack. The question is whether or not NPU can fight its way into the middle of that pack (Augustana, Wheaton, and Carroll) and eke out a playoff spot.
I will keep my expectations modest and will just look forward to another season of improvement for North Park women's soccer. Emma definitely has the program moving in the right direction.
What a difference a few years makes in the CCIW. Perennial stalwarts Wheaton & Illinois Wesleyan are 1-5-3 & 1-8-1, respectively, on the season.
I believe that prior to this season IWU was 27-0 all-time vs Millikin. Last evening Millikin beat them, 2-0. On the year IWU has only scored 5 goals while giving up 24. This is a reflection of the lack of recruiting effort from the coach that immediately followed Barrett after he went to Fairfield. It's going to take Bakirdan a few more years to restock the cabinets.
Wheaton and IWU play this weekend to stay out of the cellar. It looks like Auggie & North Central are the strongest sides this season.