CHICAGO, Ill. -- The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) announced its all-conference list on Friday morning and North Park Women's Soccer saw four players and their coaching staff earn honors for their performance in the 2025 regular season. 

For starters, Head Coach Emma Woodley and her staff of Corinne Cole, Lucy Clark, and Abby Balmaseda were named the CCIW Coaching Staff of the Year, leading a Vikings team that wasn't voted in the upper half of the preseason conference coaches' poll to a second place finish with a 9-7 overall record and ending 6-2 in conference play.  This season's 2nd place finish is the highest that North Park Women's Soccer has ever achieved, alongside a program record six wins.  The previous high was 4th place, which they notched five times with the most recent being in 2011. This is the first time North Park Women's Soccer has earned a "Coach of the Year" or "Coaching Staff of the Year" nod.

For their play on the field, senior forward Caroline Sjøstedt, freshman midfielder Sofia Svensson, and junior midfielders Maja Applequist and Hannah Björkegren were all named to the All-CCIW team. Sjøstedt and Svensson both earned 1st Team honors while Applequist and Björkegren were named to the 2nd Team.  Conference awards are selected based on a players' stats they accumulate over the course of their conference schedule, while out of conference games are not considered.  That said, Sjøstedt led all players in assists with 6, the first Viking to lead the CCIW in that category in program history, and was fifth in points (10).  Though she only had 2 goals in conference games, she consistently applied pressure to opposing defenses with 29 total shots with 10 being on goal, good for third and sixth in the CCIW. 

Along with being named to the 1st Team, Sofia Svensson was also named the CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year (another program first), as she led the entire conference in goals and points.  Svensson had 8 goals and 17 points, along with being seventh in total shots (22) and third in shots on goal (15);  68% of her total shots were on goal (15 of 22), and 53% of her shots on goal were scored (8 of 15).  She is only the second player in Viking history to lead the CCIW in goals and points in a single season, behind none other than Coach Woodley who did the same in 2014 with 9 goals and 19 points.

Björkegren ended as the fourth leading goal scorer (4), second in shots on goal (17), fourth in total shots (26), and seventh in points (9), providing a constant threat from the wing position that opposing defenses had to account for. She had pivotal goals against Elmhurst and Illinois Wesleyan midway though conference play to help the Vikings to their longest winning streak in program history.

Applequist ended her conference season with 2 goals, 1 assist, and 5 points, but her impact was not what showed up in the stat sheet - it was her presence navigating the middle of the field.  Applequist played the most minutes this season of any Viking at 720, never coming off the field in conference games. Her ability to move from the forward third to the back third all while controlling the middle of the pitch provided an anchor for the Viking defense and a safety blanket for the offense when on the attack. 

The Vikings have enjoyed an amazing season thus far both individually and as a program.  They look to keep this momentum and positivity rolling into their first conference tournament game in program history next week, November 5, hosting a semifinal match.