CHICAGO --- In a matchup between the last two undefeated teams in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play, the North Central College women's soccer team (12-5, 7-0 CCIW) extended its perfect conference record to 7-0 with a 3-0 shutout of North Park University (9-7, 6-1 CCIW) on Saturday evening. The victory secures North Central at least a share of the CCIW regular season title with one game remaining.

North Central has won the regular season title just once before back in 2023 when the Cardinals had their first undefeated conference season (8-0). North Central has just one conference match left to play on Wednesday, Oct. 29.

Yazmin Martinez took the first shot of the contest in the first two minutes of play but the Vikings defenders managed to block the attempt. Gabriella Mattio cracked the scoreboard in the seventh minute after she weaved through a couple of defenders and punched in an unassisted goal to move ahead 1-0.

Following a Vikings' foul, North Central delivered a free kick service into the box where Kassandra Salviola drew another foul to set up a penalty kick opportunity for the Cardinals. Lange took the shot and buried the ball to give North Central a 2-0 lead 

Still looking for its first goal of the game, North Park had a one-on-one look with Lily Mattison, but the sophomore keeper stopped a point-blank shot to maintain North Central's two-goal lead.

With under three minutes to play, Martinez serviced back-to-back corners to Salviola who attempted a pair of headers but couldn't get the angle to execute. The first half ended with the Cardinals owning a 2-0 lead with eight shot attempts while North Park only got off two.

Looking to break the shutout, North Park played a physical game on both sides of the ball out of the break but North Central was up for the task and put away the first goal of the second half 19 minutes in.

Lange pushed the ball up the middle of the pitch in the 64th minute, passing it over to Lucy Burk on the right side. Burk continued the push and created space before crossing it back into Lange for the three-goal lead. It marks Lange's 10th goal of the season. 

NPU found a lane through a group of Cardinal defenders but Mattison was prepared with the stop to keep the Vikings scoreless through the end of the contest. It marks Mattison's seventh shutout of the season and the 14th of her career. 

North Central will conclude its regular season at home Wednesday, Oct. 29 with its final CCIW contest against Wheaton College as the Cardinals look to lock in the regular season title outright as well as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with quarterfinals set to begin Saturday, Nov. 1.