CCIW

Gotberg · November 11, 2014, 09:29:06 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on November 10, 2014, 11:19:49 PM
Color me surprised as well. I thanked some of the Vikings seniors for their four years of contributions following the penalty-kicks decision last Wednesday at Hedstrand Field. I was sure that NPU's season was over, and the post-match vibe in the stadium told me that this sentiment was shared by everyone else.

I don't pretend to have nearly the same understanding of how the selection process works for soccer that I do for basketball. All I know is that NPU gets to go dancing and will play at least one more match, and for that I am very grateful and excited!

I also thought NPU was done, but I haven't been following the national scene this year. They do carry a strong schedule so that speaks volumes usually at selection time.

Hopefully Pedram returns to the lineup - not sure why he has been out but it seems like the team started having trouble after he was out of the lineup.

Gregory Sager · November 11, 2014, 07:15:45 PM

Pedram's been out with an illness. His return date, if any, is indefinite, although I certainly hope that he'll be in the #8 kit on Saturday against Thomas More at Kenyon. His absence has been extremely costly; he was, after all, the CCIW's scoring champion (both goals and points) in league play, in spite of the fact that he missed the last two matches of the regular season.

NPU has also been without two other starters, sophomore Rick Anderson and freshman Jason Gonzalez, during that same span of Elmhurst/Wheaton/Elmhurst, both due to leg injuries. I'm not certain if and when they'll be back.

Gotberg · November 11, 2014, 09:08:24 PM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on November 11, 2014, 07:15:45 PM
Pedram's been out with an illness. His return date, if any, is indefinite, although I certainly hope that he'll be in the #8 kit on Saturday against Thomas More at Kenyon. His absence has been extremely costly; he was, after all, the CCIW's scoring champion (both goals and points) in league play, in spite of the fact that he missed the last two matches of the regular season.

NPU has also been without two other starters, sophomore Rick Anderson and freshman Jason Gonzalez, during that same span of Elmhurst/Wheaton/Elmhurst, both due to leg injuries. I'm not certain if and when they'll be back.

I wondered why I hadn't seen Rick or Jason's names in the box scores as of late.

Gotberg · November 24, 2014, 03:02:17 PM

Congrats to Wheaton for their final 4 birth - good luck down the stretch!

markerickson · December 06, 2014, 10:21:55 PM

No Wheaton score posted yet?

Gregory Sager · December 06, 2014, 11:06:17 PM

Tufts wins the national championship match, 4-2, over Wheaton.

Mugsy · December 07, 2014, 06:04:25 PM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on December 06, 2014, 11:06:17 PM
Tufts wins the national championship match, 4-2, over Wheaton.

To which I'm sure brings you some relief.

Gregory Sager · December 07, 2014, 08:34:48 PM

tjcummingsfan · September 01, 2015, 09:55:52 PM

North Park won it's opening game tonight against Benedictine 1-0. They got a real late winner from Pedram Tahmi-Masoleh... real, real late, in the 89th minute.

Not exactly the scoreline I would've expected, but glad to see NP starts off with a win.

Gotberg · September 02, 2015, 09:26:22 AM

Quote from: tjcummingsfan on September 01, 2015, 09:55:52 PM
North Park won it's opening game tonight against Benedictine 1-0. They got a real late winner from Pedram Tahmi-Masoleh... real, real late, in the 89th minute.

Not exactly the scoreline I would've expected, but glad to see NP starts off with a win.

A win is a win. I think there was a missed penalty by NPU earlier in the game too.

There are very few returning starters from last year, so I think it will take a while for the team to gel.

Gregory Sager · September 03, 2015, 06:22:23 PM

That was a live stats mistake that was later corrected by the scorer. There were no penalty kicks in yesterday's match. NPU got a free kick in the early going against the Bennies that was simply miskeyed by the live stats operator.

Yeah, NPU looked very ragged last night. Some of that has to do with the relative youth of the team, and some of it has to do with the fact that John Born used 18 different players. Depth is going to be a strong point with this year's Vikings (he also has some banged-up players who didn't even appear in last night's match who will undoubtedly play a role this year), and last night was a perfect time to illustrate that, given the hot, humid conditions and the fact that BU is not a high-powered side. But it almost came back to bite the Vikings last night; although BU hardly got any decent chances, neither did NPU. Fortunately, the Park has Pedram Tahmi-Masoleh. As Kris Grahn presciently said about Pedram in the NPU season preview, "He's a difference-maker, and he's one of those guys who can score in the 90th minute and change the game." PT-M was marked very well by a BU defender throughout almost the entire game, but a beautifully-placed drop-in from freshman Gianfranco DeCarne put the ball right on PT-M's leg in a one-on-one situation, and he beat the defender and floated the winning shot over the head of diving BU keeper Steve Mack.

Overall, though, as I said, the Vikings looked ragged against an opponent that they usually dominate. I hope that they sharpen things up on Friday night in the home opener against Edgewood.

Gotberg · September 03, 2015, 08:20:16 PM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on September 03, 2015, 06:22:23 PM
That was a live stats mistake that was later corrected by the scorer. There were no penalty kicks in yesterday's match. NPU got a free kick in the early going against the Bennies that was simply miskeyed by the live stats operator.

Yeah, NPU looked very ragged last night. Some of that has to do with the relative youth of the team, and some of it has to do with the fact that John Born used 18 different players. Depth is going to be a strong point with this year's Vikings (he also has some banged-up players who didn't even appear in last night's match who will undoubtedly play a role this year), and last night was a perfect time to illustrate that, given the hot, humid conditions and the fact that BU is not a high-powered side. But it almost came back to bite the Vikings last night; although BU hardly got any decent chances, neither did NPU. Fortunately, the Park has Pedram Tahmi-Masoleh. As Kris Grahn presciently said about Pedram in the NPU season preview, "He's a difference-maker, and he's one of those guys who can score in the 90th minute and change the game." PT-M was marked very well by a BU defender throughout almost the entire game, but a beautifully-placed drop-in from freshman Gianfranco DeCarne put the ball right on PT-M's leg in a one-on-one situation, and he beat the defender and floated the winning shot over the head of diving BU keeper Steve Mack.

Overall, though, as I said, the Vikings looked ragged against an opponent that they usually dominate. I hope that they sharpen things up on Friday night in the home opener against Edgewood.

Greg, who were the injured NPU players?

tjcummingsfan · September 04, 2015, 11:02:10 PM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on September 03, 2015, 06:22:23 PM
I hope that they sharpen things up on Friday night in the home opener against Edgewood.

It looks like they did just that. North Park gets a 4-0 win over Edgewood. From the little I watched online, and from the stats, it looked like North Park thoroughly dominated this game.

SuperSub15 · September 16, 2015, 06:54:31 PM

Not much going on here this year. How do the CCIW Teams look compared to years past?

Gregory Sager · September 20, 2015, 05:04:41 PM

Well, thus far it looks like North Park and Wheaton will be dominant again. Pedram Tahmi-Masoleh of NPU is leading the nation in goals scored, and Wheaton still has superstar Marshall Hollingsworth from last season's national runner-up side. But the question is: Who else will rise up and make the CCIW playoffs? Thus far, I can't really get a read on it. Nobody else in the league has really stood out thus far in non-conference play.