North Park Picked as Men’s Soccer Champion

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – After winning the conference title in men’s soccer for the last two seasons, the North Park Vikings, in the latest pre-season coaches poll, was predicted to win the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) championship for the third straight season.

North Park (11-7-1, 5-1-1 in 2005) won the poll with 47 points, including six first place votes. Wheaton (16-5-2, 4-2-1) was second in the poll with 43 points, including two first place votes.

Elmhurst’s (12-6-1, 5-1-1) 34 points earned the Bluejays the third place spot in the poll, while Augustana (9-7-1, 3-4-0) was fourth with 32 points. Carthage (7-10-1, 3-4-0) placed fifth with 24 points, while Illinois Wesleyan (7-7-4, 1-3-3) was sixth with 23 points.

Millikin (6-9-3, 2-3-2) and North Central (7-11-2, 0-5-2) rounded out the poll with 12 and eight points respectively.

Voting for the pre-season poll is done by the men’s soccer coaches in the CCIW. Each coach votes for the seven other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (seven points for first, six for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own team.

The CCIW men’s soccer season begins September 1.

Note: Wheaton men's soccer coach Joe Bean will retire at the end of the 2006 season. Bean, who has a career record of 591-176-56, has been a head coach for 44 seasons (37 at Wheaton) and is the winningest men's soccer coach in collegiate soccer history. During his tenur with Wheaton, Bean's teams have made 31 postseason appearances and has taken his teams to four NCAA Division III Final Four appearances and two national titles (1984 & 1997).

2006 CCIW Men's Soccer Pre-season Poll