CHICAGO, Ill. -- The No. 9-ranked North Park Men's Soccer team laid waste to the Illinois Wesleyan Titans in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Semifinals on Wednesday night. The second-seeded Vikings beat the six-seeded Titans 4-0, allowing just one shot on goal and two corner kicks in their 11th shutout of 2024.
Junior midfielder Love Brandt sent a shot high in the second minute to get the action going. However, what would happen in the fourth minute eclipsed anything the Vikings could have predicted.
North Park freshman midfielder Alexander Gahm gave chase to a long pass just outside the box before the Titans' Nick McCully prevented a goal scoring chance by dragging Gahm to the ground, resulting in a red card and a man advantage for North Park.
Able to pick and choose their chances, the Vikings found their first score in the 19th minute. Junior defender Hugo Neborg played a pass up the left side to fifth-year midfielder Jostein Blindheim. After a quick jog to the right, Blindheim found freshman midfielder Bastian Eikeland who finished with a goal just inside the right post.
This would be the only goal, and shot on goal, of the first half, but North Park piled on in the second.
Sophomore midfielder Vidar Rydell corralled a pass from Eikeland 25 yards out and sent a skipping shot at the IWU goalkeeper in the 68th minute. What appeared to be a shot-save turned into a 25-yard goal as Rydell secured his second goal of the season.
Just moments later, in the 70th minute, Rydell would assist on Blindheim's score via follow-up shot, putting the game out of reach at 3-0.
Eikeland added the cherry on top of the 4-0 dusting with his seventh goal of the season in the 75th minute off the first collegiate assist from freshman midfielder Anton Daläng. This would be the fourth and final goal, as the Vikings picked up their eighth shutout win of 2024.
What's Next?
North Park (13-1-5) turns its attention to the five seed in North Central College (9-5-5) who upset top-seeded Wheaton College, 1-0, at Joe Bean Stadium. The Vikings host the CCIW Finals match at Holmgren this coming Saturday, Nov. 9, with a kickoff set for 7:00 PM CT.
