Wheaton, North Park Work Towards NCAA Bid

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – When North Park and Wheaton face off for the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin men’s soccer championship at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Wheaton, the winner will continue its season into the NCAA Tournament.

North Park (10-6-1, 5-1-1), currently has 19 points in conference play, followed by Wheaton (15-4-1, 4-2-1) with 16 points. If North Park wins in Saturday’s tournament final, the Vikings get the automatic qualifier. If Wheaton wins Saturday’s match, each team will have 19 points, but the Thunder will earn the automatic bid based on the conference tiebreaker, which awards greater strength to wins in the conference tournament vs. wins in the regular season.

Last season, North Park defeated Wheaton 2-0 in the conference title game, but Wheaton earned the automatic bid due to more points earned during the conference regular season. Each team in the CCIW is awarded three points for every win in conference play, one point for every tie.

The Wheaton women’s soccer team finished 7-0-0 during the regular season, and have earned the automatic bid to the tournament. The Thunder women face Illinois Wesleyan for the conference title at 7 p.m. Saturday in Wheaton.