CCIW

[Gregory Sager]

NPU hosted Calvin in a scrimmage today, and the Knights came out on top, 2-0. It went the way that I expected. Senior-dominated Calvin returns almost everybody from a very strong 2021 team, including four multiple-season All-MIAA First Team picks and four seniors who were All-MIAA Second Team a year ago. NPU is replacing two All-Americans plus a couple of starters who transferred out to play elsewhere on soccer scholarships. Plus, Kris Grahn has an unusually deep crop of newbies who have the capability to play immediately at the level that North Park has come to expect from its soccer team -- look for as many as seven new Vikings to either start or rotate in off of the bench this season -- which means that the Vikings are going deeper in the preseason (Kris rotated in ten new position players in each half of Thursday's scrimmage against Kalamazoo) and that they're all still not on the same page yet. There will definitely be some kinks that need to get worked out along the way over the next few weeks for the Park.

In short, the Vikings and the Knights are at two very different places right now along the path to what each expects to achieve this season. That's not an excuse; it's simple reality. Calvin will be a tough out for anybody this season, as much for its deep experience as for its considerable level of ability. NPU has to grow into its own set of expectations.

Having said that, I'm sanguine about the strong possibility that these two teams could meet again under very different circumstances in November.

[jknezek]

Anyone interested in participating in the D3soccer Fan poll this season?

If you are interested in participating, I will run the poll again if we get enough pollsters. My only caveat is that if you agree to participate you try your best to do it every week so that things are consistent. Also, you try to be on time because it's no fun for anyone if I have to track you down every week and pester you to get your votes in.

Unless someone has a better idea, I'll run it the same as last year with the same deadlines, so the poll will include games that start before Sunday at midnight EST and will be due to me before Tuesday EST at midnight and I will try to post on Wednesday.

I will not do a preseason poll. I hate them. They set up a ton of positional bias and, especially with 400+ teams in D3, there simply is no way to do a good one. The first poll will be based on games played prior to 9/11 and will be due to me on 9/13. That gives us roughly 2 weeks of games to start making judgements.

If you are interested, and I realize we about 2 weeks out, please send me a PM. I hope we get our pollsters back from last year, as they did an excellent job, but if you want to join in, I'm always open to more!

[Gotberg]

The NPU 2022 roster has been posted:

https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/mens-soccer/roster

[camosfan]

31 people from overseas?

[Gotberg]

31 people from overseas?

I didn't count, but that wouldn't surprise me.

[Gregory Sager]

NPU men's soccer can now check off four more spots on the map: Portugal, Lithuania, Nigeria, and the Philippines. As is often the case for the Vikings, howver, the Nigerian is actually from an immigrant family, and is thus a U.S. resident rather than an international student; he graduated from Senn here on Chicago's North Side, where he was the high-school classmate of one of my nephews. More and more of the immigrant kids want to be listed on the roster by their birthplace rather than their actual current hometown. I guess that it's an identity thing, especially on a team that's represented by so many different countries.

The Vikings have three players from the Netherlands on this year's team, the most ever, and I like that. Dutch players have a reputation for being smart, tough, and technical.

It's fantastic to see Ulrik Lund back on the roster. After suffering a knee injury last year in preseason he ended up watching the 2021 campaign from the sidelines. Following surgery and rehab he's giving it another go while he finishes up his M.B.A. He's still rounding into game shape, so it'll be a few weeks before he is back on the pitch in a game situation. If he can even approximate his previous level of play, when he was a USC All-Region midfielder in both 2018 and 2019, he will be a boon to the Vikings' chances in 2022.

31 people from overseas?

Don't exaggerate. There's only 30.

Chicago is a world-class city. It's a destination point for people from overseas, and that includes college students; NPU has a sizeable international student population. And, as a city-based school, NPU particularly takes advantage of its location when recruiting for the sport that benefits the most from international student-athletes, soccer.

[WUPHF]

More and more of the immigrant kids want to be listed on the roster by their birthplace rather than their actual current hometown. I guess that it's an identity thing, especially on a team that's represented by so many different countries.

I have not lived in my rural Missouri hometown in 30 years, but if you asked, that is my "hometown."  I just assumed everyone else was the same but maybe not.

[Gregory Sager]

I tell people that my hometown is Chicago, despite the fact that I was born in Buffalo and raised in a suburb of Syracuse (Liverpool). I've lived in Chicago for my entire adult life, which, as people enjoyed reminding me when it was my birthday earlier this month, is beginning to be a fairly prodigious stretch of time. This is the place with which I identify, so it seems right to me to call it my hometown.

But everybody's different. There aren't really any rules when it comes to defining one's hometown, and I suspect that most coaches and SIDs are happy to accommodate student-athletes in that regard when putting together an online roster. Why alienate a student-athlete unnecessarily by assigning a hometown that he or she does not consider to be his or her hometown?

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 3
Beloit 0

A bus parking and top-of-the-ankles-high grass were on the agenda for the Vikings this afternoon in their season-opening foray north to the Town Whose Name Sounds Like A Quarter Dropped Into A Toilet. It was not unexpected, I'd say, and pretty much the only sound strategy that the Beloit coach (in collaboration with the BC groundskeeper) could muster in this situation. And it worked quite well, as it took 78 and a half minutes before NPU could break through the traffic jam in the forward third. At that point sophomore D2 transfer Frans Dao (American International) fed freshman Jakob Wennerqvist for the first goal of the season. That pulled Beloit out of the turtle shell, and once the game became open soccer North Park was able to add two more goals in the next ten minutes, courtesy of more familiar faces (Toby Lunde scoring, Isak Flo assisting, then Toby returning the favor for Isak). Frankly, it's likely that the goal-every-five-minutes pace at game's end would've been the case throughout, had the Buccaneers not packed their back third for most of the game (and owned a decent lawnmower).

It's hard to tell from Beloit's game stats, which were a mess, but I was told that the Vikings were missing three starters today (one of whom was Christian Vaaland, who attended the NPU women's game at Hedstrand Field this evening), who stayed home with minor injuries. Kris Grahn would've suited them up if he really needed them.

Kudos to the Beloit coach for having the guts to schedule this game.

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage notched the big win of opening day, as the Firebirds gifted new head coach Paul Leese with his first win for the red and black, knocking off powerhouse Wash U, 2-1, at Art Keller. It took the Firebirds most of the first half to answer an Owen Culver goal in the sixth minute for Wash U, but Eli Schofftsall connected on the equalizer right before halftime, and then Kevin Reilly potted what would turn out to be the game-winner in the 59th minute. Needless to say, this is a big win for a Firebirds team that is looking to re-assert its identity.

Wheaton got its revenge for last season's big upset at the hands of Concordia (IL) by downing the Cougars, 2-1. As was the case last season, this game was played at Joe Bean Stadium. Alessandro D'Argento and Harrison Lee tallied for the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance; Garrett Poytner grabbed one back for the visitors in the 60th minute, but it proved insufficient to make lightning strike twice against the Thunder.

North Central buried Marion on the road, 4-0, behind goals by Jack Fairwood, Herman Hesby, Jack Bonavia, and Kevin Johnson.

Elmhurst beat Benedictine, 3-1, at Langhorst. Noah Backhaus scored just seconds before the halftime horn, and then in the second half Ilija Jerinic sandwiched PK goals around the lone tally by the Bennies.

The rest of the league did not fare very well. Aurora spanked Millikin at Lindsay Field, 4-2; Augie likewise lost at home, in their case a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Simpson. Illinois Wesleyan will try to open its season tomorrow afternoon at Oglethorpe amidst a forecast of day-long thunderstorms in Atlanta, and Carroll debuts for 2022 on the opposite side of the country with an evening affair at Chapman in the L.A. suburbs.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 4
St. Olaf 2

It was a highly entertaining night of high-speed, end-to-end soccer at Hedstrand Field. The Oles took a quick lead just 61 seconds into the contest on an insanely skillful steal off of an NPU defender's foot by Hakeen Morgan, who thereupon immediately rocketed a 30-yard strike past NPU keeper Alfie Swärd. But the Vikings refused to be put on the back foot by that, as their constant pressure produced three first-half goals, including an Isak Flo re-direct sandwiched by a brace of William DeCarro PK strikes. The Oles almost grabbed one back just before halftime, but Swärd made a pair of outstanding saves to thwart the Minnesotans' threat.

In the second half, the Oles again came out roaring. About a minute and a half into the second stanza, Clemente Archuch Puig worked his way into the box and got off a twisting volley that beat Swärd and made it a one-goal game again. That's where it stood for almost the entire second half, with the Oles getting a multitude of rushes that included a well-struck ball that glanced off of the crossbar and two or three good shots that were barely off-frame. But the NPU defense stood stout, and as the game entered its final minute the Vikings managed to get the ball into the St. Olaf end and pinned it against the sideline. Vikings wing Love Brandt somehow snuck out of the scrum with the ball at his feet and served it to the edge of the box, where Toby Lunde managed to push it to his left with two Oles on him in order to give Noel Holm a chance -- and Holm put it home in the left side of the goal to seal the deal.

St. Olaf is for real. Let's not forget that Travis Wall's side returned ten starters from a Sweet Sixteen team. They're pretty talented: Morgan, Archuch Puig, and Victor Gaulmin are each All-Region caliber, if not All-American. And their recklessly fast style of play is just plain hard to defend; the Oles do everything with alacrity. They never dilly-dally with a free kick or a throw-in; the ball goes back into play immediately, and when the St. Olaf back line gets the ball, the forwards and midfielders sprint upfield each time like their hair is on fire. It's fun to watch, and a headache if you're an opposing coach. Their upset loss to Wartburg last week notwithstanding, I expect the Oles to make some noise and be a part of the proceedings in November again. Who knows? There might be a Vikings vs. Oles rematch.

For a team that lost two All-Americans, plus a pair of All-CCIW freshmen who transferred out to the scholarship levels, the Vikings look pretty formidable. St. Olaf was a big step up in class from the first three NPU opponents, and the Vikings still managed to come off of the pitch with a hard-fought win in their home opener. Kris Grahn has definitely reloaded his team.


Messiah 3
Carthage 0

Unfortunately, it wasn't such happy tidings in the other Friday night CCIW contest, as the Firebirds went to central Pennsylvania to visit preseason #5 Messiah and got pantsed. The Falcons outshot Carthage by a total of 19-1, including 8-0 on frame. Carthage drops to 1-2-1 on the year.

[Shooter McGavin]

I watched North Park vs Wheaton last evening and North Park has a ton of talent. They played Wheaton off the field (on the road). I think they will be a tough out in NCAA's and am extremely impressed by how well they move the ball and the technical ability of the players on that team.

[Gotberg]

North Park has started posting commitments on Insta:  https://www.instagram.com/npu_msoccer/

[Gotberg]

North Park has started posting commitments on Insta:  https://www.instagram.com/npu_msoccer/

It appears NPU will have another large recruiting class - I believe Kris referred to them as his most talented yet.

[Gregory Sager]

About half of the Scandinavians he gets every year show up immediately ready to play at this level, so I take them for granted. But he's got some All-State guys this year, so this should be a great class as far as the American contingent is concerned.