CCIW

[Fawkes316]

Wheaton is having technical difficulties that will keep them from updating their website until tomorrow morning, but here is the release from Wheaton sports information:

Wheaton Thunder women's soccer team advance to National Championship match

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (11/24) -The Wheaton College women's soccer team advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championship game by defeating Virginia Wesleyan (18-4-4) 2-0 on Friday. This is the second Championship game appearance for the Thunder, who won the 2004 National Championship in its other appearance. Wheaton will face the winner of Friday's other National Semifinal between Messiah College and the College of New Jersey.

Thunder head coach Pete Felske noted after the game, "I am real proud of the way we played today. This team has fought real hard to get to this point and has worked hard to get close to close to our goal of winning a National Championship."

Wheaton broke a 0-0 tie 2:25 into the second half when freshman forward Taryne Lee headed a cross from senior Laura Koontz. Alyson Webster was also credited with an assist on the play. It was Lee's 20th goal of the season, tying her for second on Wheaton's freshman goal scoring list. Lee noted of the eventual match-winning goal, "It was a perfect ball that was passed to me and it was just perfect timing."

Just six minutes later, junior Sarah Richardson sent a shot in from the corner off of a Maria Della Torre assist. It was Richardson's 19th goal of the season.

Wheaton goalkeeper Kristin Eggert made two saves and led Wheaton to its school record-tying 18th shutout of the season. Virginia Wesleyan's goalkeeper Lindsey Williams made four saves, allowing a season-high two goals.

[Jim Matson]

In the National Championship match, the Wheaton women lead The College of New Jersey 2-0 at the half on 2 goals from Sarah Richardson.

[Jim Matson]

The Wheaton women have won the 2006 NCAA National Championship by defeating the College of New Jersey 2-0.

[Jim Matson]

Congrats to Coach Pete Felske and Coach Tim Daniels on a great season and a truly impressive post-season run.  The Wheaton women scored 14 goals in the NCAA Tourney and held their opponents to 0.  No overtimes, no shootouts, just overpowering soccer.

TCNJ had no real answer for Richardson, Lee, or Koontz.  They tried, but even into the final minutes, Wheaton was able to press hard and open up a few chances for a 3rd goal.  Passiales, Della Torre, and Barton also had a great match - Barton was very strong covering TCNJs scoring threat.  The great thing for Wheaton is that they return all these players but Koontz for next year.  TCNJ did have a number of scoring opportunities but they were quick counters and not typically built off of good consistent transition play.  Wheaton did a great job of controlling the mid-field.

Obviously Augustana had something that no one in the Tourney had!  CCIW women's soccer will continue to build in quality and I think will send 2 more teams into the post-season next year.  Both Augustana and Illinois Wesleyan have enough of a post-season experience to know what it feels like - I hope to see them both on the national scene in 2007.

[Fawkes316]

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (11/25) - The Wheaton College Thunder won its second NCAA Division III Women's Soccer National Championship on Saturday afternoon by defeating the College of New Jersey by a score of 2-0 in the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer National Championship Match. Head coach Pete Felske said after the match, "The Lord has really blessed us. I am really proud of these players and what they have done."
Junior forward Sarah Richardson collected a Maria Della Torre pass and scored Wheaton's first goal in the 16th minute of the match. Richardson said of the goal, "Mia [Della Torre] did most of the work by finding me open and I had a good first touch."

Richardson completed her Final Four hat trick, including a goal in the National Semifinal, with a goal off of a Taryne Lee assist with five minutes remaining in the first half as Lee threaded a pass to Richardson, who beat her defender and fired the shot into the back of the net.

Wheaton's phenomenal defense was led by Bethany Barton, as the Thunder would not allow the College of New Jersey to get a shot on goal in the first half. Wheaton defenders Lauren Lindner and Kira Davis  shut down the Lions' attacks. Sophomore Kelly Foltz kept the Lions' leading scorer, Dana DiBruno, from converting her few chances.

It was an ironic twist for Barton, as she tallied the clinching penalty kick in the 2004 National Championship Match. This time she captained the defense that refused to allow a goal throughout the NCAA Tournament, as she earned all-tournament honors and Defensive MVP honors for the tournament. Barton said after the match, "It feels good to win outright; nobody likes to win on penalty kicks. It is good to have a 2-0 win like this."

Wheaton's junior goalkeeper Kristin Eggert recorded her 12th shutout of the season, and the team record 19th overall for the Thunder. She made three saves, including one with less than three minutes remaining in the match. The Lions' goalkeeper Jessica Clarke made four saves and allowed two goals.

This is Wheaton's second National Championship in three years. Head Coach Pete Felske's team won the National Championship in 2004 2-1 with a 5-4 advantage in penalty kicks over the University of Puget Sound.

Joining Barton as the Defensive Player of the Tournament, and Richardson received offensive honors.  Both players were joined on the All-Tournament Team by Lee and Eggert. Kristen Cubicciotti, Jamie Kunkel, and Laura Delaney were named to the team from the College of New Jersey.

Lions' head coach Joe Russo said after the match, "They [Wheaton] are one of the best teams I have seen in a long time." Russo added, "Wheaton is an excellent team and they have good front-runners, with great pace."

[Mr. Ypsi]

Like I said, Jim:

Wheaton, ALL...THE...WAY!

(Though I confess I was thinking more of Joe Bean's guys!)  Congratulations!

[Jim Matson]

Congrats to Bethany Barton and Laura Koontz for making the d3kicks.com All-American 1st and 2nd Team.  Laura is a senior and finishes with 2 National Championships, while Bethany is a junior and will be back in 2007, trying for a 3rd!

[Fawkes316]

Barton and Koontz also were named to the NSCAA All-American team. Koontz was a first-team selection and Barton was a second-teamer.

[Jim Matson]

Laura Koontz has been selected as the NSCAA/adidas Division III "Player of the Year."  This is the second such award for a Wheaton soccer player in 3 years.  Jessica Elsen was the POY on 2004.

This is a great way for Laura Koontz to finish out her soccer career.  Congrats to her on this very fine recognition of her skills and contributions to the team!

[Jim Matson]

Wheaton scores in the last minute of play to take down Eau-Claire 2-1.  Wheaton's winning streak is now at 33 matches, third longest in NCAA Division III history.  They only need 2 more wins to overtake TCNJ's 34 match winning streak.

Unlikely that anyone will match Ohio Wesleyan's 60 match winning streak, but if Wheaton can win the National Championship without any ties, they'll stand at 46 matches without a loss or tie.  60 is really quite a benchmark!

[Jim Matson]

New rankings on the Rankings page...Wheaton has defeated 4 of the top 10 and plays another 3 to end the season.

Eau Claire looks good at #3 - the loss to Wheaton did them almost no harm.

A few conferences may see more than one team in the post-season if these rankings keep current...

[Jim Matson]

Wheaton over Chicago 3-2 in 2 OTs.  Chicago tied with 5 seconds remaining in regulation.  Must have been a great one to watch.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Go Elmhurst, beat Millikin! 

(If Millikin wins or ties, they're in the tourney; if they lose, IWU is in.  Of course, for either the 'reward' is a first round game against current [and future?] national champ Wheaton, but at least they'd get the opportunity! )

[Mr. Ypsi]

YES!!  Elmhurst beats Millikin, IWU is in the tourney!

Now there is the mere technicality of knocking off Wheaton!

Wheaton would obviously still get a pool C if they were upset by someone in the tourney.  Would Carthage stand a reasonable chance of a pool C if they finished second?  (I'm assuming everyone else is win or go home.)

[Jim Matson]

I'm not sure if Carthage would get a C berth.  But it would certainly help if that one loss in the CCIW Tourney was to Wheaton.