Augustana’s Peter Tomicic scored the only goal of the game when he slipped between two Viking defenders in the 65th minute and won the one-on-one match-up against goalkeeper Austin Person.
“The guys played really well, they played hard, but we just didn’t finish,” said a subdued Head Coach John Born. “I was just proud of their effort.”
North Park recorded 25 shots against Augustana’s 14, but many sailed just wide or were stopped by freshman goalkeeper Michael Dolan, who put on a strong performance with 10 saves. Person recorded five saves.
North Park came into the match as defending conference champions, had not lost a conference game this season, and had defeated Augustana 2-1 on October 14. They were ranked eighteenth in the country and third in the region by the National Soccer Coaches of Association. Augustana was ranked fourth in the conference going into tonight’s game.
Despite the loss, the Vikings still have an opportunity to receive a bid to the NCAA national tournament, Born said. The team won’t learn its fate until Sunday night or Monday. “You never know,” the coach said. “Hopefully we’ll be playing again.”
Augustana will take on Wheaton Saturday in the finals of the CCIW Tournament.
