Dupage Policy Journal

North Central secured its third consecutive College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Women’s Soccer Championship with a 4-0 win over North Park in the tournament final at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville, Illinois.

The Cardinals are the first women’s soccer team in the CCIW to achieve three straight league tournament titles since Wheaton accomplished five consecutive wins from 2011 to 2015. The 4-0 result marks the largest margin of victory in a CCIW final since Wheaton’s 5-0 shutout against Carthage in 2013. With this win, North Central will represent the CCIW in the NCAA Tournament.

North Central took an early lead, scoring three goals before halftime. Lucy Burke scored first at the 19:04 mark with an assist from Kara Waishwell. Gabriella Mattio added another goal at 23:59, assisted by Kassandra Salviola and Jordan Lange. Shortly after, Salviola scored at 25:05 with Madison DeVriendt providing the assist, bringing the score to 3-0 by halftime.

In the second half, Jordan Lange extended North Central’s lead with her eleventh goal of the season at 47:10. Lange led all players with eight shots, six of which were on target. Overall, North Central outshot North Park by a margin of 27-16 and had a significant advantage in shots on goal, registering sixteen compared to North Park's three.

Goalkeeper Lily Mattison recorded a shutout for North Central with three saves during her ninety minutes on the field. Paige MacRitchie of North Park made twelve saves out of sixteen shots faced.

North Park reached the CCIW Championship match for the first time in program history and ended its season with a record of ten wins and nine losses.

Before kickoff, student-athletes Greta Lampen, Stine Lie, and Julia Oennerheim from North Park joined Lily Mattison from North Central as recipients of the CCIW Elite 26 award. This honor is given to student-athletes who excel both academically and athletically across each of the conference's twenty-six sponsored sports.