Wheaton Women’s Soccer NCAA Bound With 1-0 CCIW Tournament Win

WHEATON, Ill. -- Wheaton’s Sarah Richardson tallied her team’s only goal of the afternoon, but it was enough to carry her team to a 1-0 victory over Augustana in the championship game of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW ) Women's Soccer Tournament Saturday.

With the win, the Thunder earned the CCIW’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women’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.

Richardson scored an unassisted goal at 45:31 as Wheaton outshot Augustana 28-8. The goal was Richardson’s 17th on the year.

Augustana goalie Keri Hess made 10 saves while her Wheaton counterpart, Kristin Eggert tallied seven saves on the day.