CHICAGO, IL - The 8th-ranked North Park University Men's Soccer team battled the rainy, wet conditions yet again as they faced 3rd-seeded Carthage College (11-7-1) for the CCIW Tournament Championship. After a low scoring victory against North Central College in the semifinals, North Park's offense was due for a surge. 

Shortly after a few early shots by the Carthage offense, Carthage was met with a quick red card for their keeper, causing them to play a man down for a large portion of the game. As a result of the red card, sophomore forward Gustav Ericsson was awarded a penalty kick against new keeper Brayan Justiniano. Chopping a low shot towards the left side of his opponent's goal, Justiniano was not able to hold onto what would have been a rare penalty kick save. This allowed Ericsson to quickly rebound the mishandle and return it for the first goal of the game.

Following six straight unanswered shot attempts from the North Park offense, Chase Lennartz took possession of the ball and saw an open Shatil Khoury heading downfield. Falling off balance yet maintaining his composure, Khoury sent a low shot just inside the left side of the net to make it a 2-0 North Park lead.

After a few stoppages in play occurred from the result of four Carthage yellow cards, North Park's Shatil Khoury found himself open yet again. Gustav Ericsson avoided a near slide tackle from the Carthage defense and set up Khoury who left no doubt as he lined one to the back of the net.

With the win virtually locked up, sophomore Erlend Kemkers added the cherry on top with a sneaky shot 25 yards out through a sea of North Park and Carthage players. This marked his first goal of the season through 7 games played.

For the first time since 2010 and the fourth time in program history, North Park University (17-1-1, 7-0-1) wins the CCIW Tournament Championship and receives an automatic bid to the NCAA DIII Men's Soccer Championship. With this game, North Park extends their undefeated streak to seventeen games and tallies their 12th shutout of the season. Make sure to tune in to the NCAA Fall Championships Selections on Monday (11/6) at 12:30 PM to see who will host!