2006 CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament
Oct. 31 & Nov. 4, 2006
Wheaton Men's Soccer Earns NCAA Bid With 3-0 CCIW Tournament Victory
WHEATON, Ill. -- Behind two goals from Strider Elass and one from Steve Rigby, the Wheaton Thunder picked up a 3-0 victory over Augustana in the championship game of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Men’s Soccer Tournament Saturday.
With the win, the Thunder earned the CCIW’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament. Pairings will be announced by the NCAA on Monday, Nov. 6.
Under the new format adopted by the CCIW soccer coaches for the 2006 season, the winner of the CCIW Tournament earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament instead of the regular season champion as was the case in past years.
Rigby got the Thunder on the board in the third minute when he scored on assists from Jonathan Liechty and Ben Theimer. Liechty and Rigby assisted on Elass’ first goal in the 71st minute, while Ryan Souder kicked the ball the length of the field and assisted Elass’ second goal in the 87th minute.
Souders had five saves for Wheaton, while Augustana goalkeeper Michael Dolan also had five saves.
2006 CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament Preview
NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Fourth-seeded Augustana will travel to Wheaton, Ill., to take on the No. 3 seed Thunder on Saturday, Nov. 4 for a 7 p.m. start and a chance to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
After a 1-0 upset of No. 1 seed and nationally ranked North Park, Augustana enters the tournament championship game against a Wheaton team whose head coach, Joe Bean, is retiring at the end of the season. Bean's squad topped Carthage 3-1 on Tuesday, Oct. 31 and coupled with North Park's loss, earned the right to host the championship game.
Bean recently picked up his 600th career coaching victory in a 5-0 win over Carthage on October 25.
Augustana topped Wheaton 1-0 on Oct. 3 as Nick Consentino scored the Vikings' lone goal off an assist from Matt Meyer. Augustana outshot the Thunder 19-13 including 12-5 in the first half. Augustana goalkeeper Michael Dolan made nine saves on the night.
Against North Park on Tuesday, despite being outshot 26-13, Augustana came away with the victory after Scott Marlega scored his fourth goal of the season at 65:49.
Against Carthage on Tuesday, Wheaton's Joel DeLass scored two goals and Stephen Rigby scored a goal of is own and assisted on DeLass' first goal.
The championship match will immediately follow the women's championship which is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. and also features Augustana and Wheaton.
2006 CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament Preview (Semifinal Games)
Augustana vs. North Park: In a battle of the Vikings, North Park (6-0-1) topped Augustana (4-3-0) 2-1 on Oct. 14 as Kurt Roberts scored both goals in the North Park win. In addition, Jordan Gyuricza assisted on both of Roberts’ goals. Augustana’s Matt Young scored his team’s only goal.
North Park’s PJ Eriksson and the aformentioned Roberts each lead the way with five goals apiece in seven conference games. North Park goalkeeper Austin Person, the reigning CCIW Player of the Year, is once again having a stellar season with three shutouts and 31 saves in seven conference games.
Augustana’s Nick Cosentino tied for first with North Park’s Isaac Lee in shots with 30 respectively.
Wheaton vs. Carthage: Not only did Wheaton (4-2-1) top Carthage (5-1-1) 5-0 on Oct. 25, retiring Thunder coach Joe Bean won his 600th career game. Wheaton’s Jonathan Liechty, Ari Hyde, Steve Rigby, Ben Theimer and Dolph Westlund each scored a goal in the win over Carthage.
Carthage’s Chris Fidlow leads all conference players in assists with four in seven conference games. Goalkeeper Andy Connor finished second in saves with 42 and tied with Person by tallying three shutouts. Wheaton goalkeeper Ryan Souders is first in goals against average at 0.44.
Wheaton’s Hyde and Rigby along with North Park’s Eriksson and Roberts each have five goals on the season to lead all conference goal scorers.
