2012 CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament Page

When most opposing coaches come to a North Park men's soccer home match, they're usually overwhelmed — and even a tad bit jealous — when they find the kind of environment that awaits them.

“It's impossible to pinpoint one aspect of “Foster's Finest” (the North Park men's soccer fan base),” North Park head men's soccer coach John Born said. “They make [the] Holmgren [Athletic Complex] the greatest venue out there. Often, I am overwhelmed by their commitment and creativity. Their planned cheers and songs make our games truly unique and a definite home-field advantage.”

Rain or shine, cold or warm, you will always see a contingent of “Foster's Finest” gathering for a home soccer match. They're a big part of why North Park ranked in the top 40 for highest attendance in the country across the NCAA (Divisions I-III) last season, as well as top 5 in NCAA Division III for the last five years.

“I think our high attendance figures are due to a number of factors, however the main reason is we have great students here at North Park,” Born said. “They are very supportive of not only the soccer team, but North Park in general. Our students are proud to attend North Park — when they see a team doing well they share in and promote that success.”

Last year, a crowd of 2,762 fans gathered to see North Park defeat Augustana College 3-1 on October 14, which was nearly quadruple the attendance Division I Michigan State had in its 2-1 loss to Ohio State on October 2 (Michigan State ranked 38th in the country for attendance last year). This season, North Park's match against Wheaton garnered 2,902 fans. The University is averaging a little under 1,000 fans per match at home and 500 fans overall (home and away).

“Our players and coaches are overwhelmed by the support,” Born said. “It is pretty common after a game to hear the team talk about (some of) the new cheers or some of the comments made during a game. We know how blessed we are to have them and feel a responsibility towards them. When we do not perform well, we feel we let them all down.”

For the third-straight season, North Park will host a home game in the CCIW postseason tournament, starting with the defending conference tournament champions Carthage College.

“Carthage is a great team,” Born said. “Wednesday's game will be quite a battle. We lost to them last year in the final, so we certainly have some extra motivation. Hopefully we can spread the field out and negate a bit of their speed and athleticism. We are looking forward to the challenge.”

North Park defeated Carthage 3-2 earlier this season at Holmgren before 686 fans. The winner of Wednesday's match will face the winner of the Wheaton College–Illinois Wesleyan University match (also taking place Wednesday night) Saturday night at 7:00 pm for the conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.