Pictured: Members of the 2019 North Park men's soccer team celebrate their CCIW Tournament title
NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Three-time defending College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) champion North Park was predicted to win the 2021 CCIW men's soccer title based upon the results of the conference's preseason coaches' poll announced Wednesday.
The Vikings won the poll with 62 points and six first place votes. As a program, North Park is a six-time conference champion and a national runner-up in 2017.
Carthage placed second in the poll with 52 points and two first place votes. The Firebirds were the last CCIW team to win a conference regular season title other than North Park, winning the program's third overall title in 2016.
Wheaton, placed third with 51 points and one first place vote. The Thunder have the most CCIW men's soccer titles in conference history with 20.
North Central placed fourth in the poll with 47 points, followed by Illinois Wesleyan (34 points), Elmhurst (28 points), Millikin (23 points), Carroll (14 points) and Augustana (13 points).
Voting is done by the CCIW's head men's soccer coaches. Each coach votes for the eight other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (eight points for first, seven for second, etc.). Coaches do not vote for their own teams.
The 2021 CCIW men's soccer season begins Wednesday, September 1 and the conference schedule can be found
here.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, the top four teams in the standings will compete in the
2021 CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament champion will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship.
2021 CCIW Preseason Men's Soccer Poll
| Rank |
Institution |
Points (1st Pl. Votes) |
| 1 |
North Park |
62 (6) |
| 2 |
Carthage |
52 (2) |
| 3 |
Wheaton |
51 (1) |
| 4 |
North Central |
47 |
| 5 |
Illinois Wesleyan |
34 |
| 6 |
Elmhurst |
28 |
| 7 |
Millikin |
23 |
| 8 |
Carroll |
14 |
| 9 |
Augustana |
13 |
2019 CCIW Men's Soccer Standings
| Institution |
CCIW |
Overall |
| North Park |
6-1-1 |
16-5-2 |
| North Central |
6-2-0 |
11-5-3 |
| Illinois Wesleyan |
5-2-1 |
9-8-2 |
| Elmhurst |
4-3-1 |
10-9-2 |
| Wheaton |
3-2-3 |
10-4-4 |
| Augustana |
3-4-1 |
6-7-2 |
| Carthage |
3-4-1 |
8-10-2 |
| Millikin |
2-6-0 |
6-9-1 |
| Carroll |
0-8-0 |
7-10-0 |
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL).