Men’s Soccer suffers CCIW losses to North Park and Carthage

October 5, 2017
Men’s Soccer lost to a strong North Park University soccer team on Saturday, Sept. 30.
The first 15 minutes of the first period were quiet on both sides of the ball. Then North Park began to put steady pressure on Wheaton’s defense. Freshman starting goalie Hasten Biddlecome made a save around the 18th minute, but the Vikings quickly had another shot wide right of the goal. Three minutes later, the Vikings’ persistence paid off when they scored off a header after a corner kick pass.
Wheaton made three substitutions after North Park scored, but the Vikings continued to keep the ball on Wheaton’s half of the field. North Park scored again a little more than 30 minutes into the game. Wheaton’s only two shots on goal both came from sophomore Will Woodfin with 10 minutes left in the period and another shot with less than a minute left in the period.
North Park had six more shots during the second period, but the Thunder defense did not allow another score. Wheaton could not score on the Vikings, and the game ended with a final score of 2-0, leaving North Park with the victory.
North Park is 8-1 this season so far, winning all three of their CCIW matchups. According to the CCIW website, the Vikings have the best overall record in the conference and the best conference record, giving them the top ranking.
Wheaton lost 2-1 to the Carthage Red Men in another CCIW matchup on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
Wheaton is 0-2 as of Wednesday night in conference play and is 4-5-6 overall; they are the sixth ranked team in the CCIW as of Wednesday afternoon before the game against Carthage. Carthage was ranked fifth in the conference, but now has a CCIW record of 0-2 and an overall record of 6-5-1.
The Thunder men’s soccer team will travel to Carroll University for another CCIW game at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7. Carroll University is 0-2 in conference play.