CCIW

[Gotberg]

I heard that Wheaton has a great recruit class coming in! Does anyone have more specifics.

http://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2012/5/1/MSOC_0501123014.aspx

[d3fan1]

Yikes, that is a pretty amazing recruiting class! I know Marshall Hollingsworth and he is tremendous!! What a group!

[keeker]

Yikes, that is a pretty amazing recruiting class! I know Marshall Hollingsworth and he is tremendous!! What a group!

Heck that what i thought about the class of 2014. Boy did they turn out to be a dud.We'll see how this one does.

[d3fan1]

Stephen Fernandez is the defender from Luther who went to Wheaton. He was an all-stater from Wheaton Academy in high school.

[Gregory Sager]

The CCIW preseason poll is out:

T1.	Carthage	43	(3)
T1.	North Park	43	(3)
3.	Wheaton	40	(2)
4.	Illinois Wesleyan	30
5.	Elmhurst	26
6.	Augustana	18
7.	North Central	17
8.	Millikin	7

[NCF]

The CCIW preseason poll is out:

T1.	Carthage	43	(3)
T1.	North Park	43	(3)
3.	Wheaton	40	(2)
4.	Illinois Wesleyan	30
5.	Elmhurst	26
6.	Augustana	18
7.	North Central	17
8.	Millikin	7

When does North Park play Carthage? Wheaton?    Those should be games worrth watching!

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton @ NPU, Sept. 29, 7 pm
Wheaton @ Carthage, Oct. 3, 7:30 pm
Carthage @ NPU, Oct. 20, 7:30 pm

[NCF]

Wheaton @ NPU, Sept. 29, 7 pm
Wheaton @ Carthage, Oct. 3, 7:30 pm
Carthage @ NPU, Oct. 20, 7:30 pm

Thanks! Just checked the nc website and see that the cardinals are near the bottom.

[Gotberg]

http://athletics.northpark.edu/roster.aspx?path=msoc&tab=soccer

North Park's roster has been updated.

[Gregory Sager]

While I'm disappointed that Sigurd Pryser didn't return, it's good to see that his predecessor at winger, Mike Herbst, has returned to the Park after spending last year back home in Sweden.

With five All-CCIW players back, NPU looks primed for another successful season.

[Gotberg]

While I'm disappointed that Sigurd Pryser didn't return, it's good to see that his predecessor at winger, Mike Herbst, has returned to the Park after spending last year back home in Sweden.

With five All-CCIW players back, NPU looks primed for another successful season.

It will be interesting to see if there are any standouts from this year's new Swedish contingent.  I know one of the Chicago-area newbies had a tryout earlier this year with West Ham United of the EPL.

Glad to see Jonas return - had doubts he would.

[Gregory Sager]

While I'm disappointed that Sigurd Pryser didn't return, it's good to see that his predecessor at winger, Mike Herbst, has returned to the Park after spending last year back home in Sweden.

With five All-CCIW players back, NPU looks primed for another successful season.

It will be interesting to see if there are any standouts from this year's new Swedish contingent.  I know one of the Chicago-area newbies had a tryout earlier this year with West Ham United of the EPL.

I don't know which of the new Swedes is the Kris Grahn recruit that John Born told me about, but I know that Kris is really high on him.

Glad to see Jonas return - had doubts he would.

I was surprised to see him return, too. But as long as Jonas has left last season's diva attitude behind him, I'm certainly glad to see him back, because he's a scary-good striker. I would imagine that John Born has told him that he's on a short leash, behavior-wise.

[Gotberg]

While I'm disappointed that Sigurd Pryser didn't return, it's good to see that his predecessor at winger, Mike Herbst, has returned to the Park after spending last year back home in Sweden.

With five All-CCIW players back, NPU looks primed for another successful season.

It will be interesting to see if there are any standouts from this year's new Swedish contingent.  I know one of the Chicago-area newbies had a tryout earlier this year with West Ham United of the EPL.

I don't know which of the new Swedes is the Kris Grahn recruit that John Born told me about, but I know that Kris is really high on him.

Glad to see Jonas return - had doubts he would.

I was surprised to see him return, too. But as long as Jonas has left last season's diva attitude behind him, I'm certainly glad to see him back, because he's a scary-good striker. I would imagine that John Born has told him that he's on a short leash, behavior-wise.

Its pretty common for really good forwards to be known as a diva.  Purely from a fans perspective, I am fine with that if he keeps scoring.  I will be interested to see if John changes formation and adds a second pure striker up top.  Seems like there is a lot of attacking talent this year.

Looking forward to the season starting in just a little more than a week's time.

[Gotberg]

NP season preview - but quite frankly - not a whole lot said:  http://athletics.northpark.edu/news/2012/8/27/MSOC_0827125106.aspx?path=msoc

[Gregory Sager]

On Saturday afternoon I watched NPU's annual scrimmage with the alumni. It was not a pretty sight, as the team is still pretty ragged and not on the same page with regard to passing and positioning. It'll come, though ... I'm sure of it. The other problem was that this was no longer the alumni aggregation of previous years, in which any old Viking that John Born could scrape up would take the field against the varsity. Most of the NPU alumni who played on Saturday had been Vikings themselves within the last four years -- the exceptions included veterans like Adam Sinovic, who is certainly never a detriment to any side he suits up for -- and the alumni team included Kris Grahn, Ryan McNaughton, and Erik Kinhammar from last year's starting lineup. In other words, the alumni certainly pushed the varsity.

The varsity finally got it going in the second half, as Mike Herbst broke down a defender on a breakaway and scored an unassisted goal from the left wing, and then Robin Hals and Freddie Greiff worked a great two-man game up the right sideline, Greiff scoring on the Hals assist, as the varsity won, 2-0.

NPU opens the season on Friday afternoon at Concordia (IL).