Interesting week...

Well, we were supposed to have had a game this week....

On our way to South Bend to meet Hope College for a 6pm game on Wednesday, our 30-passenger bus made a seemingly harmless stop at the Lincoln Oasis in South Holland, Illinois. An essential break in the trip given no "facilities" on our bus. Well, when the driver tried to restart the bus when we were ready to depart, nothing happened other than the engine churning. So there we sat, wondering what to do and making a bunch of calls to IWU, Hope, the bus company, local mechanics, and anyone else we thought could help us either fix this bus or get us a new one so we could get to the game.

Alas, we failed on all fronts to get alternate transportation and were stuck at the rest stop, forced to cancel our game with Hope. On the bright side: nobody got hurt and nobody got any sicker :) This is a good thing considering our big game on Saturday against Carthage. The Lady Reds are 5-1 in the CCIW and 14-3 overall, losing recently to Wheaton 5-1. They have already clinched second place in the league and will host Augustana on Tuesday in the conference semifinals.

Fourth place is still up for grabs, with really three teams in the mix: us, Millikin, and Elmhurst. Last night, North Central lost to Millikin, 1-0, on a goal with under 2 minutes remaining in the game. Millikin is now 3-3 in the CCIW, as are we, but hold the tie-breaker advantage because they beat us earlier in the season. The Big Blue host Elmhurst in their season finale on Sunday at 2pm in Decatur. In order for us to secure 4th place, we must win on Saturday and hope that Elmhurst either beats or ties Millikin on Sunday. If Millikin wins, we are out and our season ends on Saturday. Go Bluejays!

But we have our hands full ourselves with Carthage. They are very difficult to play against and we've always struggled with them. Saturday is also the final home game for our Seniors who will be honored before the game with a ceremony thanking them for their service to Titan soccer. Game time on Saturday is 1pm. Go Titans!