Top seed North Park defeated fourth seed Carthage 1-0 in a physical game at Holmgren Athletic Complex. The lone goal came when Kyle Fisher fed the ball to Payne, who beat a defender and slipped his shot into the net at 57:56 in the second period.
“If he had been saving it all year, he waited until the perfect time,” said head coach John Born.
Standout goalie Austin Person blocked a penalty kick keeping the score at 0-0 early in the first period. Later, with the Vikings leading, Person stopped a Carthage header that looked like it could have been a goal. Born also praised the play of Matt Bond, whose tenacious defense also helped the Vikings beat back a pressuring Carthage offense.
“He and Austin kept us in the game,” said Born.
The Vikings will travel to Wheaton for a 4:30 p.m. Saturday match at East McCully Field.
The Vikings defeated Wheaton last year for the conference championship and will look to repeat again this year as well as extend their winning streak to three against the traditional powerhouse.
Last month, the Vikings(10-6-1, 5-1-1) became the first CCIW team to ever defeat Wheaton(15-4-1, 4-2-1) twice in a row. Wheaton defeated Elmhurst (12-6-1, 5-1-1 CCIW) 4-1 Wednesday.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church
