Vikings go 13-3-3; finish 5-1-2 and in second place in the CCIW; Anna Fank, Sydney Ion and Karissa Gottardo named all-conference; Fank and Ion all-region as well
 
Paced by all-conference and all-region seasons from junior Anna Fank (Wheaton Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) and sophomore Sydney Ion (Aquinas HS, La Crosse, Wis.), Coach Scott Mejia's 2018 Augustana soccer squad posted a 13-3-3 overall record, including a second-place 5-1-2 mark in the CCIW. The Vikings improved by 2½ games and four places in the conference standings from a year ago and experienced a five-game improvement overall.
 
Augustana opened the season on August 31 with a 1-0 double-overtime win over a Hanover outfit that would win its next 17 matches and lose just once more all season. Senior Jordyn Sundberg's (Aurora Central Catholic HS, Oswego, Ill.) goal with 1:47 remaining in the second overtime decided things at Thorson-Lucken Field.
 
The Vikings moved to 4-0 with decisive wins over Bethel (4-0), Cornell (4-2) and St. Mary's (Ind.) (3-0) before suffering their first setback, 1-0 to Coe at home on September 11.
 
Mejia's crew logged three more lopsided non-conference wins and opened CCIW play with a 1-1 tie with North Park at Thorson-Lucken. Junior Lauren Muzzalupo (St. Charles North HS, St. Charles, Ill.) was selected as the CCIW Offensive Player of the Week on September 25 after scoring Augustana's goal against North Park and two in a 5-0 win at Buena Vista. After a 3-0 home win over North Central, the Vikings played three straight double-overtime matches on the road, resulting in two ties (Carroll and Beloit) and a loss (Wheaton).
 
With a record of 8-2-3 and a league mark of 1-1-2, Augustana won five straight to end the regular season. Included were big wins over Illinois Wesleyan (2-0) and Elmhurst (4-0) sides that had been ranked ahead of the Vikings in the regional rankings. Fank's performance in those two matches earned her CCIW Defensive Player of the Week honors. Augustana clinched second place in the league and home field for the CCIW Tournament semifinals with a 1-0 win over Carthage in the regular season finale on October 27.
 
The season came to an end with a 2-1 loss to Illinois Wesleyan at Thorson-Lucken in the CCIW semis on Halloween night. Despite their impressive record, the Vikings did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
Senior Andria Serra (Alleman HS, Silvis, Ill.) finished the year with team highs of nine goals and 18 points. Sophomore Karissa Gottardo (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) and Muzzalupo each recorded 14 points on six goals and two assists. Gottardo's three game-winning goals in CCIW action led the league.
 
Senior back Abby Wendell's (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) team-best nine assists tied for fifth-most in program history and her six in league play led the conference. She also scored two goals and finished fourth on the team with 13 points. As a team, Augustana was credited with 39 assists this season—third-most in program history.
 
Ion and Fank—who also had three goals and four assists—were the leaders of a defense that allowed just 13 goals in 19 matches. Ion finished 13-3-3 with the fourth-best goals against average in school history (0.66) and the ninth-best save percentage (.840). Her win total is tied for fifth all-time. She posted seven shutouts, including five in league play, which led the CCIW.
 
Gottardo was a second team All-CCIW selection, joining first teamers Fank and Ion. The latter two were also named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Central Region team. Fank was a first team pick, while Ion was named to the second team.
 
2018 CCIW WOMEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS

School	CCIW	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Wheaton	8-0-0	1.000	19-4-1	.812
AUGUSTANA	5-1-2	.750	13-3-3	.763
Illinois Wesleyan	5-3-0	.625	14-5-2	.714
Elmhurst	4-4-0	.500	9-6-2	.588
Carroll	3-3-2	.500	7-8-4	.474
North Central	3-4-1	.438	7-9-1	.441
Millikin	3-5-0	.375	6-11-0	.353
Carthage	1-5-2	.250	7-8-3	.472
North Park	0-7-1	.063	5-11-1	.324

 
2018 CCIW WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Semifinals— Wednesday, October 31
#3 Illinois Wesleyan 2, #2 AUGUSTANA 1
#1 Wheaton 3, #4 Elmhurst 0
Championship—Saturday, November 3
Illinois Wesleyan 1, Wheaton 1 (IWU advances 5-4 on PKs)
 
2018 AUGUSTANA WOMEN'S SOCCER SUPERLATIVES
USC ALL-CENTRAL REGION: Anna Fank – 1st team; Sydney Ion – 2nd team
ALL-CCIW: Anna Fank – 1st team; Sydney Ion – 1st team; Karissa Gottardo – 2nd team.
GOOGLE CLOUD/CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT 7 - Grace Sigler
CCIW-ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE: Natalie DeBartolomei, Jenna Dvorak, Karissa Gottardo, Allison Harvey, Cora Jacobsen, Cameron Kekelik, Lauren Muzzalupo, Alexandria Serra, Grace Sigler, Jordyn Sunberg, Abby Wendell
JACK SWARTZ AWARD WINNER: Karissa Gottardo
CCIW PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Offensive - Lauren Muzzalupo, 9/25/18; Defensive - Anna Fank, 10/23/18
NATIONAL STATISTICAL TOP 50 – TEAM
Goals against average: 0.65, 40th
Assists per game: 2.05, 40th
Total assists: 39, 43rd
NATIONAL STATISTICAL TOP 25 – INDIVIDUAL
Goalkeeper minutes: 1772:40, Sydney Ion, 25th
CCIW STATISTICAL LEADERS – TEAM
Shutouts: 5
CCIW STATISTICAL TOP 5 – INDIVIDUAL
Assists: 6, Abby Wendell, 1st
Assists per game: 0.75, Abby Wendell, 1st
Save percentage: .886, Sydney Ion, 1st
Shutouts: 5, Sydney Ion, 1st
Game-winning goals: 3, Karissa Gottardo, 1st
Goals: 4, Karissa Gottardo, 4th
Goals per game: 0.50, Karissa Gottardo, 4th
 
INDIVIDUAL TOP TEN LISTS
SINGLE SEASON
Goals against average: 0.66, Sydney Ion, 4th
Goalkeeper wins: 13, Sydney Ion, 5th-T
Assists: 9, Abby Wendell, 5th-T
Shutouts: 7, Sydney Ion, 6th-T
Goalkeeper minutes: 1772, Sydney Ion, 8th
Save percentage: .840, Sydney Ion, 9th
 
CAREER
Saves per game: 4.06, Sydney Ion, 3rd
Goals against average: 0.93, Sydney Ion, 4th
Goalkeeper wins: 16, Sydney Ion, 6th
Goalkeeper minutes: 2795, Sydney Ion, 6th
Shutouts: 9, Sydney Ion, 6th-T
Goalkeeper games: 32, Sydney Ion, 7th
Save percentage: .818, Sydney Ion, 8th
Saves: 130, Sydney Ion, 9th
Shots on goal: 63, Andria Serra, 10th
Shots on goal per game: 0.88, Andria Serra, 10th
 
TEAM AWARDS
MVP DEFENSE: Abby Wendell
MVP OFFENSE: Karissa Gottardo
MOST IMPROVED: Faith Rund
IRON VIKING: Natalie DeBartolomeis