Chicago, Il., -- Today's match up between the Vikings (3-4, 0-0) and Lake Forest College (8-0, 0-0) celebrated six seniors on Senior Day: keeper Paige MacRitchie, forward Caroline Sjøstedt, forward Olivia Cox, defender Arianna Lopez, midfielder Stine Lie, and midfielder Olivia Eriksson. The undefeated Foresters were averaging 4.6 goals per game entering today's game; however North Park's defense has been making a name for themselves holding high powered offenses to well under their season averages.
The first half was primed to be a stalemated defensive display from both teams, until Forester midfielder Maggie Balas broke the 0-0 score when she sent a perfect corner kick to fellow midfielder Anna Hoffman for the header goal in the 38th minute giving Lake Forest the 1-0 lead. With that goal, Hoffman has now scored 11 goals this season, good for second in the nation across all Division III. As a team, the Vikings took four shots with one being on goal from sophomore midfielder Julia Önnerheim while the Foresters only took five shots, seeing three be on goal. Despite having a slight edge in time of possession, North Park went into halftime down 1-0.
The Vikings and the Foresters continued to exchange shots throughout the second half. In the 72nd, Izzy DeStefano of Lake Forest sniped a shot to the top left corner of the Viking goal from about 25 yards out to extend their lead 2-0. Less than two minutes later, North Park responded with a string of passes from Sjøstedt and junior midfielder Maja Applequist sent to freshman midfielder Sofia Svensson for the Vikings' score making it a 2-1 game and her second goal of the season. With time ticking down, the Vikings were very close to tying the match up when junior forward Emilie Østlyngen sent a crosser right to junior midfielder Hannah Björkegren who sent a rolling shot in that grazed the left post, inches from making it a 2-2 game with a little more than ten minutes left in the match.
After today's loss the Vikings move to 3-5 on the season, with one more non-conference match before starting CCIW play. North Park's strength of schedule over the first half of the season bodes well for them as they head into conference play, as they look to make some noise in the CCIW. North Park closes their extended home stint on Wednesday, September 24th at 7pm when they host the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
A special thanks and congratulations to our six seniors this season for their hard work and dedication to their teammates, team, and North Park University on and off the field.
