No. 6 Augie visits No. 2 North Park for CCIW semifinal

Details

• What: CCIW Men's Soccer Championship semifinals
• Date: November 4
• Time: 7 p.m.
• Location: Holmgren Athletic Complex, Chicago, Illinois
• Opponent: No. 2 North Park University Vikings
• Live stats: HERE
• Watch: CCIW Network

Dethroning the champs

For the CCIW quarterfinals, Augie visited the defending CCIW Tournament champions, No. 3 Illinois Wesleyan, on Saturday. The Titans struck first in the opening half, but a goal from Silas Wise in the 71st minute knotted the game at 1-1. Neither team was able to take the lead by the end of regulation, sending the game to overtime.

Even though they were outshot 9-0 in two overtime periods, Augie was able to maintain the tie thanks in large part to Jahir Anaya, who made seven saves since entering the game after halftime. In penalty kicks, Anaya made another pair of saves while Matt Donaghey, Fer Cuahquentzi, and Diego San Pedro all converted their attempts to win the penalty kicks 3-0 and knock off the reigning champions. This was Augie's first playoff win since the 2006 postseason.

The matchup

For their efforts on Saturday, Augustana now gets to face No. 2 North Park, who is also ranked 23rd nationally. North Park is coming off a 12-1-4 regular season in which they went 6-0-2 in CCIW play. The Vikings from Chicago only lost their season-opener, a 5-2 loss to No. 20 Chicago on September 1. North Park will look to avenge their 2025 postseason appearance in which they fell 1-0 in the championship game to Illinois Wesleyan.

Augustana managed to give North Park a scare in their meeting during the regular season. NPU visited Augustana on October 3 when they were ranked 25th in the nation. The North Park Vikings led 2-0 after 82 minutes, but a late goal by Wes Karubas gave Augie hope. Augustana was not able to find the equalizer, however, falling 2-1.

Recent history has heavily favored North Park in the matchups between them and Augie. Augustana beat NPU 5-2 in the 2025 season but had lost the previous nine matchups against North Park.

The two Vikings squads do share postseason history. Most recently, Augie and NPU met in the first round of the 2006 playoffs with Augustana winning 1-0 for their last playoff win before Saturday. The two also met in 2003 when Augie defeated North Park 1-1 on penalty kicks.

What would be next?

Whichever Vikings team prevails on Wednesday will move on to the CCIW championship game on Saturday, Nov. 7. They will face the winner of No. 1 North Central and No. 4 Wheaton. The highest remaining seed of the two championship contenders will host that game.