CHICAGO, Ill. -- The 4-0-0 record for North Park Men's Soccer represents the only perfect record in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) standings. The Vikings have three more non-conference games before starting league play, eyeing WashU in St. Louis (4-1-0) first on Tuesday night.
North Park, Division III's eighth-ranked team as of September 9, has allowed only two goals this season while taking wins against Dubuque, Aurora, Trine, and MSOE. The Vikings' +9 Goal Differential ranks 35th in DIII and are one of just 32 teams in the country with an unblemished record.
Senior midfielder Vydar Rydell's 0.75 Assists Per Game ranks 33rd in Division III and his 3 assists on the season lead the team and are good for 24th, nationally. Junior defender Kevin Perez is NPU's top goal scorer with three and Rydell is the other Viking with multiple goals, finding the back of the next twice last week against Trine.
Six other Vikings have scored a goal on the season; junior midfielder Mathias Soerum is one of those Vikings, having also added a pair of assists in a win against Aurora. Sophomore goalkeeper Ludvig Almborg has spent the most time in goal, starting three of four games to boast a 0.67 Goals Against Average with 11 saves.
The Vikings will travel to face the WashU Bears, a team North Park beat 2-0 at home last season by allowing just one shot on goal. Sophomore midfielder Bastian Eikeland, sophomore defender Dennis Rinne, and Soerum all had assists in that 2024 win.
The Bears are 4-1 this season, with their lone trip up a 2-1 loss at Westminster on August 31. WashU is led by junior forward Ethan Wirtschafter, a two-year starter for the Bears with five goals in four games played. Four of those goals were in the Bears' 8-1 season-opening win at CCIW familiar Millikin on August 29. Fellow juniors Colin Link, a midfielder, and Quentin Gomez, a defender, are two other WashU players with a pair of goals. Freshman midfielder Sebastian Valdes has a team-leading four assists on the season.
WashU has relied on just one goalkeeper in 2025 - junior Cal L'Hommedieu is starting in his hometown of St. Louis, allowing just five goals with eight saves.
Kickoff at Francis Olympic Field in the important non-conference clash is set for 4:00 PM CT on Tuesday, September 16.
