Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton women's soccer team closed out the regular season on Saturday with a 3-1 victory against North Park (5-12, 0-7 CCIW). Wheaton is now 13-6 on the year and 5-2 in CCIW play.
Wheaton will be the third seed in the 2015 CCIW Women's Soccer Tournament that begins on Wednesday. The third-seeded Thunder will play at second-seeded Augustana in one semifinal on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Top-seed Illinois Wesleyan will host fourth-seeded Carthage on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. The
CCIW Women's Soccer Tournament Championship will be on Saturday, Nov. 7 at the highest remaining seed. The winner of the CCIW Tournament will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament.
Wheaton possessed early in today's match with North Park and the Thunder turned its edge into a goal by
Ally Witt (PICTURED ABOVE) in the 13
th minute. Witt's goal came as she broke through the NPU defense to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Wheaton's
Hannah Hodge scored in the 21
st minute as she headed the ball into the net off of a Thunder corner. Hodge's goal was assisted by
Anna Saunders and gave Wheaton a 2-0 lead. Witt pushed the ball past NPU goalkeeper Meghan Ellis in the 35
th minute to increase Wheaton's lead to 3-0. Witt's second goal of the day was assisted by
Anna Saunders.
Wheaton led the Vikings 3-0 at halftime. The Thunder held a 5-4 advantage in shots in the opening half and Wheaton recorded a 3-0 edge in corner kicks in the half.
Neither team was able to score a goal in much of the second half. North Park registered its first goal of the afternoon in the 84
th minutes with Annika Myquist scored off of a Jessica Malak assist to account for the 3-1 final score.
Mary Daghfal started in goal for Wheaton, playing 85 minutes with four saves and one goal allowed.
Sarah Cohen played the final five minutes in net, with no goals allowed. Ellis made four saves and allowed three goals in 90 minutes of work in the NPU net today.
Wheaton held a 13-8 advantage in shots today as the Thunder had seven shots on goal and North Park had six shots on goal. Wheaton was awarded four corner kicks in the match and NPU had none.