Wheaton Women, North park men earn conference soccer titles

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- After victories in each of its final conference games on Wednesday, the Wheaton women's soccer team and the North Park men's soccer team both earned the 2006 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Conference Title in its respective sports, the third straight title for North Park and 12th straight for Wheaton.

Wheaton defeated Carthage 2-0 on Wednesday, moving its record to 6-1-0, while North Park beat Elmhurst 2-1 to move to 6-0-1 on the conference season.

Wheaton has won every conference title dating back to when the CCIW began sponsoring women's soccer in 1995, but shared the crown with Carthage in 2001. North Park head coach John Born and his Viking squad have put together a string of three-straight conference titles starting with their first ever championship in 2004.

Under the new criteria for determining conference champions, the team in first place after the seven-game regular season is designated as the "conference champion", with the top four teams in the standings earning a spot in the CCIW Soccer Tournament. The winner of the conference tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The men's tournament is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Oct. 31 with the top two seeds each hosting a game. The winners will play each other on Saturday, Nov. 4 at the highest remaining men's site for the tournament title. The women's tournament is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Nov. 1 with the same format as the men. The women's championship game will also be played on Nov. 4 at the highest remaining men's site (in the CCIW, the men and women switch off as to who hosts the conference tournament championship games).