Augustana finishes 12-5-2 overall; 5-2 and third place in the CCIW; Farell and Rizzo named 1st team All-CCIW and 2nd team all-region; Druszkowski, Kras and Skotnicki earn 2nd team all-conference recognition
 

Augustana put together another successful women's soccer season in 2014. Coach Scott Mejia's Vikings finished with a 12-5-2 overall record and a 5-2 mark in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin, finishing third in the standings and qualifying for the conference tournament. Junior Kelly Farell (St. Ursula Academy, Sylvania, Ohio), who was named the team's Offensive MVP, and sophomore Jessa Rizzo (Fremd HS, Palatine, Ill.) earned first team All-CCIW recognition and both were named to the NSCAA All-Central Region second team as well. Augustana's Defensive MVP, senior Kerri Skotnicki (Waubonsie Valley HS, Aurora, Ill.), and juniors Jessica Kras (Glenbard North HS, Carol Stream, Ill.) and Somer Druszkowski (Lincoln-Way Central HS, Manhattan, Ill.) were named to the All-CCIW second team.
 
The season opened at Thorson-Lucken Field with a matchup against 24th-ranked Calvin. Rizzo scored the first of her six game-winning goals this year to lift the Vikings to a 2-1 victory. Skotnicki, who had tied the match earlier with a goal on a corner kick, was named CCIW Defensive Player of the Week for her performance. Two Kras goals highlighted a 4-2 win over Hiram in Kenosha, Wisconsin before the team returned home and suffered its first setback, 2-1 at the hands of Loras.
 
The next two matches—also at Thorson-Lucken Field—yielded 2-1 and 1-0 double-overtime wins over Marian and Dubuque, respectively. Rizzo scored the game-winners in each contest. She found the net in the 102nd minute off an assist from Kras against Marian. Kras also scored the Vikings' other goal. Against Dubuque, it was Farell assisting on Rizzo's golden goal, which came with just eight seconds to play in the second overtime.
 
Rizzo had two goals and an assist in a 3-0 road win at Principia, earning CCIW Offensive Player of the Week honors. A second straight shutout by junior goalkeeper Meredith Chew (Paradise Valley HS, Phoenix, Ariz.) earned her the same award on defense.
 
Augustana fell 1-0 at home to Wisconsin-Whitewater before closing out the pre-CCIW portion of its schedule with home wins over Webster (1-0) and Wisconsin-Superior (6-0). An early Kras goal provided the margin against the Gorloks and senior Taylor Navarro (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) scored twice against Superior as Augustana outshot the Yellowjackets by a remarkable 48-0 margin.
 
The conference season opened with a 2-0 loss at home to an Illinois Wesleyan side that ended up in the national semifinals. After a 1-1 tie with Aurora at Thorson-Lucken Field, the Vikings traveled to Elmhurst and evened their CCIW mark at 1-1 with a 3-0 whitewash of the Bluejays. The win bumped Augustana's overall record to 7-3-1.
 
After another 1-1 tie—this one at Wartburg, the Vikings won three straight CCIW matches at home. Junior Kortney Hix's (Mountain Vista HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) hat trick—the first three goals of her career—highlighted a 6-0 win over Carthage. Her performance earned her CCIW Offensive Player of the Week honors. Hix assisted on Rizzo's game-winner in a 2-1 victory over North Central and Mejia's side posted a 4-1 win over North Park on Senior Day to lift its record to 11-3-2 overall and 4-1 in league play.
 
A 4-0 loss at seventh-ranked Wheaton and a 6-0 win at Millikin wrapped up the regular season. Sophomore midfielder Brianne Frys (Fremd HS, Palatine, Ill.) had three goals and an assist in the win over the Big Blue. Farell scored twice as well. The Vikings' season came to an end on November 5 with a 2-0 loss to Illinois Wesleyan in the semifinals of the CCIW Tournament.
 
Farell led the Vikings in scoring with eight goals and eight assists (tied for fourth-most in school history) for 24 points. She will enter her senior season with 30 career goals, which ranks seventh in school history. Her 24 assists are third on Augustana's career list and her 84 points rank sixth.
 
Kras and Rizzo also found the net eight times each to tie for the team lead and Druszkowski finished with four goals. Skotnicki's four assists were second on the team to Farell.
 
Skotnicki and fellow senior co-captain Kimberly Grimmer (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill.), were the leaders of the Viking defense that allowed just 19 goals and a 0.95 goals against average. Junior Stef Hamaker (Boylan Catholic HS, Caledonia, Ill.) and sophomore Hannah Lohmeier (Waunakee HS, Waunakee, Wis.) also stood out. Chew (7-3-1, 0.76 GAA, .814 save pct.) played 11 matches in goal before suffering a season-ending injury. Sophomore Margaret Williams (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) filled in and finished 4-2-1 with a 1.25 goals against average and a save percentage of .710.
 
 
2014 CCIW WOMEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS

School	CCIW	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Wheaton	6-0-1	.929	18-2-2	.864
Illinois Wesleyan	5-1-1	.786	17-7-1	.700
AUGUSTANA	5-2-0	.714	12-5-2	.684
Elmhurst	4-3-0	.571	11-7-0	.611
Carthage	3-4-0	.429	8-10-0	.444
North Central	2-4-1	.357	6-7-3	.469
North Park	1-6-0	.143	6-12-0	.333
Millikin	0-6-1	.071	3-13-2	.222

 
2014 CCIW WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Semifinal—Tuesday, November 4
#1 Wheaton 8, #4 Elmhurst 0
 
Semifinal—Wednesday, November 5
#2 Illinois Wesleyan 2, #3 AUGUSTANA 0
 
Championship—Saturday, November 8
Wheaton 1, Illinois Wesleyan 0
 
2014 AUGUSTANA WOMEN'S SOCCER SUPERLATIVES
NCSAA ALL-REGION: Kelly Farell and Jessa Rizzo, 2nd team
ALL-CCIW: Kelly Farell, Jessa Rizzo, 1st team; Kerri Skotnicki, Somer Druszkowski, Jessica Kras, 2nd team.
CCIW-ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE: Somer Druszkowski, Kelly Farell, Kimberly Grimmer, Stefanie Hamaker, Madelyn Huber, Grace Iaquinta, Jodie Kirschner, Jessica Kras, Corey Lepoudre, Hannah Lohmeier
CCIW PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Defensive – Kerri Skotnicki, 09/2/14, Meredith Chew, 09/23/14; Offensive – Jessa Rizzo, 09/23/14, Jessica Kras, 09/30/14, Kortney Hix, 10/21/14.
NATIONAL STATISTICAL TOP 25 – TEAM
None
NATIONAL STATISTICAL TOP 25 – INDIVIDUAL
Game-winning goals – Jessa Rizzo, T-22nd @ 6
CCIW STATISTICAL LEADERS – TEAM
Assists – 2.43 per game
CCIW STATISTICAL TOP 5 – INDIVIDUAL
Shots – Kelly Farell, 2nd @ 27
Shots per game – Kelly Farell, 2nd @ 3.86
Points – Kelly Farell, T-3rd @ 10
Points per game – Kortney Hix, 3rd @ 1.60; Kelly Farell, T-4th @ 1.43
Goals per game – Kortney Hix, 4th @ 0.60
Assists – Kelly Farell, T-1st @ 4
Assists per game – Kelly Farell, T-2nd @ 0.57
Game-Winning Goals – Jessa Rizzo, T-2nd @ 2; Sammi Farkos, Kelly Farell, Brianne Frys, T-5th @1
Shutouts – Margaret Williams, T-2nd @ 2
Shutouts per game – Margaret Williams, 2nd @ 0.40
 
INDIVIDUAL TOP TEN LISTS
SINGLE SEASON
Assists – 8 (T-4th), Kelly Farell
 
CAREER
Assists – 24 (3rd), Kelly Farell
Points – 84 (6th), Kelly Farell
Goals – 30 (7th), Kelly Farell
 
TEAM AWARDS
MVP OFFENSE: Kelly Farell
MVP DEFENSE: Kerri Skotnicki
IRON VIKING: Kimberly Grimmer
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Stephanie Buga