CHICAGO, IL (November 3, 2011) – The North Park men’s soccer team earned a spot in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament championship game with a 2-1 win over visiting Wheaton College in the semifinals Wednesday night.
The victory marked North Park’s second over Wheaton in the last two CCIW tournaments, and its first over the Thunder in the semifinals. This is the second straight year the Vikings have advanced to the CCIW finals.
North Park senior Kris Grahn scored the game-winner in the 80th minute on an assist from sophomore Filip Lindmark. Grahn took the pass and dribbled the ball between three defenders, putting a shot in the bottom left of the goal.
The Vikings pulled ahead not even two minutes into the contest when freshman Fredrik Greiff scored his third goal of the season unassisted. Wheaton came back with the equalizer eight minutes later, but neither team mustered much offense until Grahn’s tally.
North Park (11-2-3, 4-2-1) came into the tournament as the second seed and will face top-seeded Carthage College (13-5-2, 5-1-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The winner will gain the CCIW’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament in addition to the conference championship. Carthage advanced to the finals by defeating Elmhurst College 4-3 in overtime.
The matchup will give the Vikings the opportunity to avenge a 1-0 loss to the Red Men.
Saturday’s game can be followed live online via Carthage’s website.
