ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings women's soccer team will take on the Millikin Big Blue at home on Saturday for an important CCIW showdown. Augie enters the weekend just one game back in the loss column for fifth place in the conference. 

The Vikings currently sit at 8-4-4 overall and 2-3-1 in the CCIW. The team is coming off a 2-1 road win over Carthage on Wednesday, scoring a goal in the final seven minutes to escape with the one-goal victory. The two teams played a defensive battle through one half, with neither finding the back of the net on their way to a 0-0 tie after 45 minutes. The Vikings struck first 10 minutes into the second half as Liesl Whitener got the team on the board with a goal off a double assist by Lexi Dominguez and Samira Khobdeh. The next three shots in the half were on Augie's side of the field before the Firebirds sent in the equalizing tally in the 73rd minute to make it a 1-1 game. After trading looks at each other's nets, Khobdeh broke the deadlock with a strike in the 84th minute on a pass from Allison Gibeau. The Augustana defense did not allow a shot the rest of the way and held on for the one-goal victory.

Millikin comes into the contest with an 11-2-1 overall record and 3-2 mark in league play. The Big Blue are riding a two-game winning streak, recently defeating both Wheaton and North Park at home. Millikin outscored its opponents 3-0 over that span, with the victories snapping a two-game losing streak. The team is led in scoring by a pair of five-goal scorers in Izzy Jones and Addie Gudaitis. Two others also have notched four tallies this season. Defensively, the Big Blue have allowed over two goals just once this season, with the lone occurrence coming in a 6-0 loss to North Central. Millikin is a perfect 5-0 on the road this season.

Augustana leads the all-time series over Millikin 25-2-2, but has lost two of the last three in the series. The Big Blue defeated Augie last season in overtime in the CCIW Tournament by a score of 1-0.

Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m.