Here’s to not lying or cheating: a women’s soccer preview

I’m kind of an antsy sports fan. When I see a Chicago team ranked as high as our women’s soccer squad is right now, I just want to jump right into conference play to see what we can really do. At this point, I’d really like to just say “Now for the hard part” right now.

If I did that, I’d be lying to all of you, and if my mother raised me to be anything, that most certainly is not a liar (although my dad has been known to say “It’s ok to lie as long as you don’t cheat”).

North Park (3–0) certainly isn’t to be overlooked right now. They exploded out of the gates last Tuesday, beating Wisconsin Lutheran (1–3) 7–0 in the season opener. They outshot Lutheran 56–1 in that game, with five different players scoring. They also beat Lake Forest (1–1), a .500 club that took Chicago to double overtime last year. In three games, they’ve allowed zero goals on just nine shots.

At the same time, we have to look at those numbers in context. North Park’s opponents have a combined record of 2–6 right now, and thinking more long-term, they’ve never made the NCAA tournament (although that might be because Wheaton plays in the CCIW).

Perhaps most noteworthy is that Chicago is undefeated against North Park. Just saying that might not sound great, since the Maroons are undefeated against 26 different teams altogether, and most of those are teams we’ve played once of twice. But we’ve played North Park 10 times. That’s 10–0 since 1995.
Last year, the Maroons beat the Vikings 3–0 as part of that absurd stretch at the end of the season when Chicago won six straight to get to the national tournament.

This year, the South Siders are playing them in a different part of the year with different expectations. Still, things are certainly looking up for Chicago. The Maroons are ranked 15th in the country (the last time the team played North Park, Chicago wasn’t ranked at all), and they’re coming off a 5–1 shellacking of Babson (1–2) over the weekend.

Hard part? Probably not yet. That’ll really come toward  the end of September, when Wheaton comes to town and things start to have some playoff flavor. Today Chicago will be playing to protect a perfect record on the season and an undefeated streak 14 years in the making.

Opponent players to watch

Everly Ban, M: The first-year from California has made an immediate impact for North Park, scoring three goals thus far. She’s also second on the team with 20 shots, and two of her shots were game-winners.

Sarah Hansen, F: In her second year, Hansen has notched two goals (both against Lutheran) and leads the team with 24 shots, 19 of which have been on goal.