Augustana men finish 2013 with a 7-10-1 record overall; finish 1-6-0 in CCIW play; Erik Gustafson earns team MVP honors
The Augustana men’s soccer team finished the 2013 season with a 7-10-1 record. The Vikings suffered a number of hard luck defeats and finished CCIW play with a 1-6-0 mark. Sophomore defender Erik Gustafson
(Cary-Grove HS, Cary, Ill.) was selected as the team’s MVP and Best Defensive Player. Senior midfielder Grant Halter
(Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn, Ill.) earned Best Offensive Player honors for Coach Brenton Joseph’s club and sophomore forward Jonathan Colucci
(Glenbard North HS, Carol Stream, Ill.) was chosen as the team’s Newcomer of the Year.
The season opened with a match at Wheaton’s Bob Baptista Invitational. Augustana led 2-0 late in the contest, but Taylor scored twice in the final seven minutes to salvage a 2-2 tie.
The Vikings retuned home for three straight matches at Thorson-Lucken Field. They were impressive in wins over Macalester (4-1) and Grinnell (3-0), but couldn’t finish off the trifecta, falling 2-1 to Central in overtime. Junior goalkeeper Brett Johnson
(Zion Benton HS, Beach Park, Ill.) was named the CCIW’s Defensive Player of the Week on September 10, after posting a shutout against Grinnell. Halter had a goal and a pair of assist versus the Pioneers.
Over the weekend of September 21-22, the Augustana side split a pair of matches in St. Louis, Missouri. The Vikings fell to Webster 1-0 on a goal in the 80th minute, but bounced back the next day to defeat Fontbonne 2-1. Senior Fridolin Wernick
(Evangelic Gymnasium Hermannswerder, Potsdam, Germany) provided the game winner against the Griffins with his second goal in three games since joining the team.
On September 27, the Vikings traveled to Whitewater, Wisconsin to face the 12th-ranked Warhawks of UW-Whitewater. A Halter goal with 16 seconds left off an assist from Gustafson tied the match at 1-1. However, after a scoreless first overtime period, UWW got the game winner in the second, with the Vikings just over a minute away from achieving a tie.
Augustana sandwiched wins over St. Ambrose and Simpson around a loss in its CCIW opener at North Park. Halter scored both goals in a 2-0 home win over the Bees. After Joseph’s crew fell 2-0 at North Park, it returned to Thorson-Lucken handed the Storm just its second loss in 12 matches.
The Vikings dropped their next six matches, including five in conference play. The lone non-conference contest was against undefeated and sixth-ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Once again, Augustana took a ranked opponent to double overtime, but fell 2-1 at home on a goal with just three minutes remaining.
Wernick had a goal and an assist as the Vikings snapped their losing streak with a 3-0 win over Benedictine at Thorson-Lucken and the team wrapped up the season with a 1-0 win over Millikin on Senior Day. Johnson posted shutouts in each of the final two matches.
Halter, who had the game winner against Millikin, finished the season as the team’s leading scorer with six goals and two assists for 14 points. Freshman Michael Brazinski
(Plainfield East HS, Plainfield, Ill.) was the second leading scorer with four goals and one assist for nine points. Senior Matt Shipon
(South Elgin HS, Elgin, Ill.) led the Vikings in assists with five and also had two goals for nine points. Colucci finished second on the team with three assists.
In goal, Joseph used Johnson and senior Tyler Cowherd
(Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa). Johnson finished 4-5-1 with a 1.26 goals against average and a .745 save percentage and Cowherd ended up 3-5-0 with a .720 save percentage and a GAA of 1.51.
In addition to Gustafson, top Viking defenders this season included seniors Michael Buric
(Notre Dame Prep, Scottsdale, Ariz.), Evan Johnson
(Glenbard South, Glen Ellyn, Ill.) and Kyle Polanco
(Lincoln-Way North, Frankfort, Ill.) as well as freshman Michael Curry
(Lincoln-Way West HS, New Lenox, Ill.).
2013 CCIW MEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS
|
School |
CCIW |
Pct. |
Overall |
Pct. |
|
Wheaton |
6-0-1 |
.929 |
17-4-2 |
.783 |
|
Elmhurst |
4-1-2 |
.714 |
11-4-3 |
.694 |
|
North Park |
4-2-1 |
.643 |
11-5-3 |
.658 |
|
Carthage |
4-2-1 |
.643 |
13-7-1 |
.643 |
|
Illinois Wesleyan |
3-4-0 |
.429 |
9-8-2 |
.526 |
|
North Central |
2-5-0 |
.286 |
7-8-3 |
.472 |
|
Millikin |
1-5-1 |
.214 |
3-12-2 |
.235 |
|
Augustana |
1-6-0 |
.143 |
7-10-1 |
.417 |
2013 CCIW MEN’S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Semifinal – Tuesday, November 5
#1 Wheaton 1, #4 North Park 1 (Wjeaton advances 5-3 on penalty kicks)
Semifinal – Wednesday, November 6
#2 Carthage 2, #3 Elmhurst 0
Championship – Saturday, November 9
Wheaton 2, Carthage 1 (OT)
2013 AUGUSTANA MEN’S SOCCER SUPERLATIVES
ALL-CCIW: None
CCIW PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Defensive – Brett Johnson (09/10/13)
CCIW ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE: Adam Bengfort, Michael Buric, Daniel Campagna, Jonathan Colucci, Tyler Cowherd, Ryan Curry, Nathan Kyes, Denis Lawlor, Patrick Nelson, Kyle Polanco, Dominic Sullivan, Fridolin Wernick.
CCIW STATISTICAL TOP 5 – INDIVIDUAL
Shutouts – Brett Johnson, T-4th @ 1
Shutouts per Game – Brett Johnson, 4th @ 0.25
INDIVIDUAL TOP TEN LISTS
None
TEAM AWARDS
MVP – Erik Gustafson
Best Offensive Player – Grant Halter
Best Defensive Player – Erik Gustafson
Newcomer of the Year – Jonathan Colucci
