Covenant News - Soccer Team Punctuates NPU Weekend Action

Covenant News

Soccer Team Punctuates NPU Weekend Action

CHICAGO, IL (September 7, 2004) - Sophomore Nick Bruckner of Edgebrook Covenant Church in Chicago scored two goals to lead the North Park University (NPU) men's soccer team to a 3-1 nonleague victory over visiting Marian College of Wisconsin Sunday as the Vikings completed a sweep of opponents last weekend.

Marian College scored first on a T.J. DiPrizio goal just 14:55 into the game, but North Park struck back quickly as Gabe Vogler hooked a shot into the Sabres' goal off a direct free kick at the 16:53 mark.

Bruckner and Jon-Erik Johnson entered the game at forward early in the first half and made an immediate impact by hawking the ball in Marian's back line and midfield. The added defensive pressure helped the Vikings greatly and Bruckner was the early beneficiary as he scored his initial goal at 30:23 on an assist by Matt Moncada.

At the 42:28 mark (just 2:32 before halftime), Bruckner took a long pass from reserve Karley Mase, decked a Marian defender and scored again to put North Park up 3-1. From there, coach John Born's team dominated play, getting numerous scoring opportunities in the second half, albeit without a goal. Austin Person had one save in goal for the Vikings in the victory.

On Saturday, North Park opened the 2004 season by defeating Ohio Northern University 3-1. After the visitors took an early lead, Adam Sinovic tied the game and freshman P.J. Eriksson scored the final two goals as Person earned his victory in goal. The Vikings hope to continue their winning ways as they play a 4 p.m. nonleague contest at Rockford College on Wednesday.

In other North Park sports action over the weekend:

The football team lost 42-16 to MacMurray College at the Holmgren Athletic Complex Saturday despite 234 yards passing and two touchdown tosses by quarterback Mike Haehn. The Vikings trailed just 13-9 early in the second quarter after Haehn connected on a 13-yard scoring pass with Chris Wada and Dan Richmond sacked MacMurray quarterback Mike Schmidtke for a safety. But MacMurray scored three touchdowns in a span of 1:42 to put the game away. The Highlanders got a 1-yard run by quarterback Schmidtke and then used a blocked punt and an interception to set up the other scores while taking a 35-9 halftime lead. Peter Ereg, who led all rushers with 173 yards on 33 attempts, scored MacMurray's final touchdown on a 72 yard run. Haehn and Sherman Gant hooked up for a 20 yard scoring pass for North Park's final points later in the final period. Haehn finished 15 of 38 passing on the day as Harris led all Vikings with six catches for 103 yards. Dante Britten led coach Robin Cooper's team with 57 yards rushing. North Park plays a noon game Saturday at the University of Chicago.
In cross country action last Friday in Naperville, Illinois, four runners placed in the top 50 individually as the NPU women's team placed fifth overall at the Chuck Carroll Invitational at DuPage River Park. Grace Conrad ran six kilometers in 25 minutes, 1 second for 21st overall in the race, which was hosted by North Central College. Teammates Allison Weller (26:03), Rebecca Dawson (26:14) and Kari Thompson(26:31) were 36th, 41st and 50th respectively. North Park had a team score of 173 as Wheaton College had the low team total of 65 points. Kim Hamstreet, running for Universal Sole/Reebok Club, ran a 22:44 for individual honors. In the men's competition, North Park finished 16th as a team as the host school won the team title. Luke Johnson was 95th among those runners counting in the team scores, running a 35:18 for eight kilometers.
In women's volleyball play last weekend, NPU finished 0-4 at the Benedictine Invitational in Lisle, Illinois.
In women's soccer action, the Vikings tied Bethel College 1-1 last Friday in St. Paul, Minnesota, and lost a 3-2 decision at Viterbo College in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, to move to 0-1-2 on the season.
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