For the second year in a row, the Dominican University Fall team sports are looking to hit the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) trifecta with men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball all playing in the championship of the respective conference tournaments. The action kicks off on Friday with the women’s soccer team traveling to Aurora University for the 2010 NAC Women’s Soccer Tournament Championship match. The fun resumes with the 2010 NAC Men’s Soccer Tournament Championship on Saturday on the Stars’ West Campus Field and then concludes with the 2010 NAC Volleyball Tournament Championship on Saturday night in Dominican’s Igini Sports Forum.
The Stars’ women’s soccer program, 14-4-1 on the season, earned its spot in the conference championship match with a thrilling 1-0 overtime win over the Edgewood College Eagles on Wednesday afternoon.
Nallely Arreola’s (Waukegan, Ill.) golden goal in the 104
th minute lifted the Stars back to the conference finals for the third time in four years.
Standing in the Stars’ way is a familiar face, the Aurora University Spartans. The Stars and Spartans have met twice for the NAC Championship with Aurora winning both contests by 1-0 counts. The showdown begins at 1:00 p.m. on Friday at Aurora’s Vago Field.
The Stars’ men’s soccer program, 17-1-1 on the year, cruised to its fifth straight NAC regular season title with a 10-0-1 mark during conference regular season play. After edging the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons 3-2 in Tuesday’s NAC Tournament semifinal round, the Stars now battle the Aurora Spartans for the conference tournament crown. Dominican is a four-time defending NAC Tournament champion, never losing a NAC Tournament contest since the conference’s formation in 2006.
At stake when the action kicks off on 1:00 p.m. on Saturday is the NAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship. The Stars have been to the past eight national tournaments, advancing all the way to the national semifinals last season.
On the volleyball court, the Stars, 25-9 overall, earned their spot in the NAC Tournament title match with back-to-back three-set victories over Rockford College and Edgewood College in the quarterfinals and semifinals. The Stars, having won their first conference championship in program history last season, are now looking to win their first conference tournament championship and win their first bid to the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship in university history. To reach that goal, the Stars will have to beat the Benedictine University Eagles for a third time this season. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in the Igini Sports Forum.
