First-year head coach Bob Usselman’s team was 6-10-3 on the season, winning six of its final 10 matches. Neises, who scored nine goals this season, has been a big reason for the surge, once again coming to the aid of the Vikings on Saturday. She scored on an assist from Lindsay Lundgren at the 47:38 mark and assisted on Katie Rose’s 10th goal at the 55:05 mark.
After Millikin’s Kristen Powell narrowed the North Park lead to 2-1 at the 57:09 mark, Thomforde scored the eventual game-winning goal (her fourth this season) at 69:39 off a corner kick from Mallory Nelson. Cathy Thomas of Millikin closed out the scoring with a goal at 72:14, but the Big Blue (4-12)couldn’t score again as NPU moved to 2-5 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play.
Rose, one of four seniors for the Vikings, finished her career second in three offensive categories at North Park: 24 goals, 16 assists and 64 total points.
In other NPU sports action:
- The men’s soccer team played on Friday at Millikin and Matt Moncada scored his 14th goal of the season to help North Park tie the Big Blue. Moncada scored on an assist from Adam Johnson at the 68:37 mark after Millikin’s Ben Lewis put his team ahead 1-0 at 45:26. Austin Person recorded three saves as the Vikings moved to 11-3-2 overall, 3-2-1 in the CCIW. Coach John Born’s team is seeded second in the CCIW playoffs, hosting Elmhurst College (12-5-1, 4-3) Tuesday night on the new Holmgren Athletic Complex. Meanwhile, top-seeded Wheaton College hosts Carthage College on Tuesday.
- Cross country teams at NPU participated at the CCIW meet Saturday and Allison Weller finished 31st individually and Becky Gritter was 33rd as the top women finishers at DuPage River Park in Naperville. Weller ran six kilometers in 25 minutes, 14 seconds while Gritter had a clocking of 25:20. Elmhurst College’s Marisa Mele was the individual champion with a time of 22:57. Wheaton College, the host school for the meet, won the women’s team title with a low score of 39 points. NPU, which competed without its top runner Grace Conrad, was eighth with a total of 203 points. The men’s team finished eighth as well (North Central was the team champ) and Erik Shearer was 65th for the Vikings individually.
- In football action Saturday in Bloomington, Jon Harris caught 12 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns during NPU’s 35-26 loss to Illinois Wesleyan University. The Vikings, 1-7 overall and 0-5 in the CCIW, trailed 21-0 at halftime but Harris’ scoring catches and a 48 yard touchdown catch of a Mike Haehn pass by Sherman Gant gave coach Robin Cooper’s team a chance to win before Illinois Wesleyan recovered an onside kick and scored an insurance touchdown in the final minute.
- North Park’s volleyball team was off last weekend but a four-game CCIW victory over visiting North Central College moved the Vikings to 2-5 in conference. Setter Jennifer Williams of Chicago was named Co-CCIW Player of the Week early last week after North Park had beaten Wheaton in a conference match on October 21.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
