Contact: Tyler Friel, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Box Score

Oct. 26, 2016 – Breaking the record for most conference wins in a season, the North Central College women's soccer team won their fourth College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin matchup, defeating North Park University 2-1 in overtime Wednesday evening at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

In the first half, the score would remain tied a majority of the way, with the Cardinals (5-9-2, 4-3 CCIW) seeming to fire all their shots right at the Vikings keeper. Taylor Markanich was almost able to break the tie in the first half after her 25 yard lob shot was barely tipped by the Vikings keeper at the 16:02 mark. The Cardinals would get another chance at the 25 minute mark as Markanich found Rachel Kolling but her header barely sailed over the crossbar. At 43:01, North Park made the most out of a penalty kick opportunity as Annika Nyquist sneaked her shot past Nicki Seiton, giving the visitors the 1-0 lead at the half. Despite the deficit at the break, the Cardinals dominated the shots category, outshooting their opponents 10-3 and 5-1 in shots on goal.

It was a similar story for the Cardinals offensively in the second half, again owning the shots category by a final 22-7. The difference would be that one of their many shots ended up finding the back of the net, as Emily Gaither scored with 1:01 remaining in regulation to force overtime. After a corner kick cluster, Gaither emerged the hero to give the Cardinals a final chance.

Overtime ended less than halfway through as Catherine Kent assisted to Kolling to give North Central the win and keep the Cardinals in contention for a CCIW tournament bid.

Kolling led the way for the Cardinals with six shots on goal as well as her first goal of the season. Gaither logged her first goal of the year. The Cardinals sit tied for fourth in the conference standings but own the tiebreaker over Carthage College. Carthage defeated Carroll University tonight and will face Augustana in their final game.

The Cardinals travel to Illinois Wesleyan University to finish their regular season against the Titans on Saturday, October 29. Game time is scheduled for 4 pm, live stats and video can be found HERE.