Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. – Senior Grace Iaquinta (Lincoln East HS, Lincoln, Neb.) and junior Andria Serra (Alleman HS, Silvis, Ill.) assisted on each other's goals Saturday as Augustana defeated North Park 2-1 at the Holmgren Athletic Complex. Coach Scott Mejia's side won for the fifth straight time and improved to 7-4 overall and 2-0 in the CCIW. The hosts fell to 6-6-1 on the season and 0-4-1 in the league.
 
Serra, the reigning CCIW Offensive Player of the Week, got off a pair of shots in the first five minutes of the match. The first, less than a minute in, was wide and the second was turned away by North Park keeper Sydney Martinez. However, in the 11th minute, Serra parlayed an assist from Iaquinta into her team-leading fourth goal of the season and a 1-0 Augustana lead. The helper was Iaquinta's second of the year.
 
The visitors kept up the pressure, getting off the first seven shots of the match. Iaquinta hit the crossbar in the 17th minute. North Park's first shot came in the 22nd minute and was blocked by an Augustana defender.
 
A header by junior Jordyn Sundberg (Aurora Central Catholic HS, Oswego, Ill.) in the final minute of the first half was wide and Mejia's squad took a 1-0 lead into the locker room. Augustana outshot its hosts 10-3 in the opening 45 minutes, putting four on frame to none for North Park.
 
Less than four minutes into the second half, the Iaquinta/Serra combination struck again. This time it was Iaquinta converting an assist from Serra. She went high to beat Martinez for her second goal of the season. The assist was the second of the year for Serra.
 
Trailing 2-0, North Park picked up the pace, getting off 19 shots and putting nine on goal over the last 40 minutes of the match. Senior Bailey Bradford (Deerfield HS, Riverwoods, Ill.), who came on after halftime, stopped the first seven shots she saw before Brianna Buda got one past her in the 86th minute. Siv Kaarstad assisted on the goal.
 
Bradford turned away a Kaarstad shot in the 88th minute and the final two North Park attempts were off the mark.
 
Freshman Sydney Ion (Aquinas HS, La Crosse, Wis.) went the first half in goal and picked up the win to go to 3-3 on the year. Bradford recorded all eight Augustana saves in the second half.
 
North Park finished with a 22-13 advantage in shots, including a 9-7 edge in shots on goal. The hosts took seven corners to four for Augustana.
 
The Vikings will try to extend their winning streak to six on Tuesday, October 10 when they travel to Naperville, Illinois to face North Central in a 7:00 p.m. match.