2006 CCIW Men's Soccer Preview

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) men’s soccer season will kick-off on Friday, September 1 after an off-season of change to the playoff format.

Under the old format, the conference champion in both men’s and women’s soccer was determined by a four-team tournament with the automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament being determined by a point system. Under the new format, which takes affect this season, the conference champion will be determined by the single round robin regular season with the automatic qualifier going to the winner of the four-team conference tournament, held October 31 & November 4.

Last season, North Park (11-7-1, 5-1-1 in 2005) and Wheaton earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament with North Park bowing out in the first round to Macalester, while Wheaton lost in the second round on penalty kicks to Gustavus Adolphus. Both teams are expecting big things again in 2006 as North Park was expected to place first in the latest CCIW Preseason Men’s Soccer Coaches Poll with 47 points including six first place votes. Wheaton (16-5-2, 4-2-1 in 2005) placed second in the poll with 43 points, including two first place votes.

North Park head coach John Born and his Vikings squad has won the last two conference championships with victories over Wheaton in the conference tournament championship in 2004 and 2005. He enters his eighth season at North Park in 2006. Senior goalkeeper Austin Person returns to the Vikings after tallying three shutouts in seven regular season CCIW games last season. Person was also second in the conference in save percentage (.870) and third in goals against average (0.82) en route to being named the conference’s most outstanding player. Person joins senior midfielder Adam Sinovic and junior defensemen/midfielder Matt Bond, both all-conference players in 2005, as co-captains in 2006.

Wheaton enters 2006 as the final year for its head coach Joe Bean, who will retire at the end of the season. Bean, who has coached for 44 seasons, 37 at Wheaton, will have a talented group returning to challenge North Park for the conference title. Senior midfielder and co-captain Stephen Rigby is back after earning all-American and first-team all-conference status last season after leading the Thunder with eight assists and scoring six goals. Junior forward Strider Elass was the Thunder’s leading scorer with 12 goals en route to earning first-team all-conference status.

Picked third in the preseason coaches poll, Elmhurst (12-6-1, 5-1-1) enters its third season of existence under head coach Dave DiTomasso. The Bluejays finished third in 2004, second in 2005 and look to make a serious run at Wheaton and North Park for the conference title in 2006. Eight starters are back including two-year starter Britt Blackwell at goalkeeper. Blackwell earned second-team all-conference status last season after posting a 1.40 goals against average and 144 saves. In addition to Blackwell, senior forward Aaron Rossi and junior forward Tom Hunka, both all-conference players a year ago, return. Rossi scored four goals and had two assists while splitting time between forward and defense, while Hunka finished second on the Bluejays in goals with seven, and total points with 20.

Augustana placed fourth in the preseason coaches poll, tallying 32 points after a 9-7-1 (3-4 in the CCIW) finish in 2005. The Vikings, despite losing four key starters, are poised for another winning season. Junior Petar Tomicic, senior Dylan DeGrave and sophomore Dan Hogan will look to replace departed defenders Dennis Topiliec and Kevin Love, while senior Marcus Harris, and juniors Matt Young and Adam Cosentino will be relied upon in the midfield. Senior Brad Becker returns at forward after receiving a medical hardship waiver due to a past injury.

Carthage (7-10-1, 3-4-0 in 2005) placed fifth in the preseason poll with 24 points. The Red Men return 19 letterwinners and eight starters from last season. Junior forward Brian Santella is back after scoring seven goals and two assists last season. Senior forward Max Zbilut (three goals, three assists in 2005), sophomore defender Bryan Gruenberg (three goals, one assist) and sophomore midfielder Chris Fidlow (one goal, five assists) also return.

Illinois Wesleyan (7-7-4, 1-3-3 in 2005) finished sixth in the preseason poll with 23 points. The Titans return a pair of all-conference players in sophomore defender Matas Cyvas (first-team all-conference) and senior midfielder Chris Miller (second-team all-conference). Miller scored eight goals last season, including two game-winners en route to being named his team’s most valuable offensive player. Cyvas was named his team’s most valuable defensive player in 2005.

Millikin (6-9-3, 2-3-2) and North Central (7-11-2, 0-5-2) placed seventh and eighth in the preseason poll with 13 and eight points respectively. Millikin returns 16 letterwinners including senior defender Cory Yontz, who was a second-team all-conference player in 2005. Millikin head coach Craig Lee, who coached both the men’s and women’s programs last season, takes over the men’s program on a full-time basis in 2006. North Central senior midfielder Ben Aguilar returns after scoring three goals and tallying one assist last season.