NAPERVILLE, Ill. - Penalties provided the difference in the 2026 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Men’s Soccer Tournament semifinals on Wednesday night.
The opening match of the night was level after 90 minutes and again after 110, sending the teams into the pressure cooker of a penalty shootout where Wheaton College shocked the top-seeded North Central College. After a 1-1 draw, the Thunder moved on with a 4-2 win in the shootout. The other semi saw the match decided on a penalty kick in the final minute of regulation. Though Augustana College nearly made it overtime, North Park University was able to convert from the spot and advance with a 1-0 victory.
North Park, the No. 2 seed in the CCIW Tournament, will now host No. 4 seed Wheaton in the championship match on Saturday evening beginning at 5 p.m. from the Holmgren Athletic Complex in Chicago with the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament on the line.
No. 4 Wheaton 1, No. 1 North Central 1, (Wheaton advances, 4-2, on penalty kicks)
Wheaton was within seconds of downing the No. 1 seed North Central in regulation before the Cardinals stunned the Thunder with a goal coming from a corner kick with less than 20 ticks on the clock. Down but not out, Wheaton survived the added 20 minutes of overtime and then converted all four of its spot kicks while North Central hit the woodwork twice to come up short in the shootout.
The Cardinals produced the lion’s share of the chances in the match, finishing with a 20-7 advantage in total shots and an 8-2 edge in corner kicks. North Central was haunted by the offside flag, having play blown dead four times in the match including on a shot that may have given the home side the lead in the first half.
The Thunder nosed out in front in the 76th minute when a cross to the back post found the head of Cooper Falling. His header across the face of goal was touched by North Central keeper Sebastian Herrera, but only enough to push it to the inside of the post and it then rolled in to give Wheaton the lead.
Late drama was still to come. On what would have been North Central’s final attacking opportunity of the night, the ball bobbled around the 6-yard box before Griffin French nodded it home to give the Cardinals a second life with 17 seconds remaining and forcing the extra session.
In the second overtime, Wheaton’s Oli Piasecki had big saves in the 102nd and 103rd minutes before North Central’s Trey Zakeri buzzed the crossbar with a long-range effort in the 106th minute.
That sent the match to a shootout and while Wheaton’s Sam Brown, Craig Rusin, Falling, and Ashur Eshw all converted, two of the Cardinals hit shots hard off the crossbar and the post to advance the Thunder to their first CCIW championship match since 2021.
No. 2 North Park 1, No. 6 Augustana 0
One thing was certain heading into Wednesday night. No matter what, the Vikings would be in the championship match on Saturday.
For 89 minutes, Augustana used a similar script to the one that saw it through the quarterfinal round. Despite being outshot and outpossessed much of the way, Augustana kept North Park off the board and the match was seemingly headed for overtime before a foul was spotted in the box with 57 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing PK, Bastian Eikeland stepped up for North Park and blasted a shot into the side netting that left Augustana keeper Elias Banke with no chance despite going the right way on the shot. With mere seconds remaining, Augustana was unable to muster a decent chance and North Park survived the challenge of the No. 6 seed to move on and host the CCIW championship match.
North Park finished the match with a 26-5 margin in total shots, putting six on target. Eikeland himself was credited with 12 shots in the match. Banke made five saves for Augustana while Arvid Skoglund earned the shutout in goal for NPU without being forced to make a save on the night.