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December 1, 2002

2002 MEN'S SOCCER REVIEW

VIKINGS TIE WHEATON FOR COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN CHAMPIONSHP FOR FIRST MEN'S SOCCER TITLE IN SCHOOL HISTORY; JASON ROSS ESTABLISHES NEW SCHOOL RECORD WITH 30 GOALS AND LEADS NCAA DIVISION III IN GOALS SCORED PER GAME

In just his second season as the head coach at Augustana College, Scott Mejia took the Vikings men's soccer team to unprecedented heights. The Blue & Gold has always fielded successful teams, as evidenced by the 21 winning seasons in 24 years of varsity competition. Included in those 21 winning seasons are 18 years with at least 10 victories.

The 2002 edition has raised the bar of expectations at Augustana however, with a 16-3-1 overall record and the school's first ever College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championship in men's soccer. The Vikings went 5-0-1 in league play with the only blemish coming in the form of a 1-1 tie with Wheaton on September 28. Augustana and Wheaton shared the title.

Wheaton, a long-time power at the national level in NCAA Division III as well as in the CCIW, owns at least a share of 13 of the 15 league titles since 1988, the first year men's soccer was included in the conference. Only North Central, with undisputed titles in 1991 and 1994, and Millikin, co-champions with Wheaton in 2001, and now Augustana, have been able to break the Thunder's run of championships.

Mejia's team tied a school record with the 16 victories, matching the mark set in 1999 by a club that went 16-4 under the direction of then-head coach Bob Estabrook. In just two seasons with the Vikings, Mejia has recorded a 27-8-3 overall record for a winning percentage of .750. Mejia, who came to Augustana after two years at Lakeland College where he was 11-27-2, is now 38-35-5 as a college head coach.

All season long the Vikings rode the torrid production of junior forward Jason Ross (St. Viator HS, Elk Grove Village, IL). Ross was nearly unstoppable this past year as he established a new school record with 30 goals. He broke the old mark of 20 goals that was previously set by Tyson Crist in 1999. Ross added three assists to his 30 goals and his 63 points also broke Crist's school record of 46 in 1999 in that category.

Ross scored goals in 15 of the Vikings 20 games and five times he recorded a "hat-trick". His final goal this season was by far the most important as he scored the game winner in a 3-2 double overtime victory at Carthage on Saturday, November 2 that allowed Augustana to tie Wheaton for the conference title. Ross scored with just two tenths of a second remaining in the second overtime of a sudden death situation. If the game ended in a tie then Wheaton would claim the title outright but because of Ross' heroics the Vikings had their coveted first title.

Ross was the individual scoring leader in the nation, according to the NCAA Division III statistics service. He averaged 1.50 goals per game to nip runner-up Tim Trava of St. Joseph’s by .05 goals per game. He finished tied for second in total points (goals scored assists) with an average of 3.15 per game. He led the CCIW in scoring with seven goals in conference play and in total points with 14. He is also quickly moving up the school's career list in both goals scored and total points. With one year left to play he has 45 career goals, a figure that ties him with Jamie Jackman (1992-95) for fifth on the all-time list. His 100 total points is sixth best on the career list.

Almost lost in the shuffle because of Ross' scoring barrage was the fact that freshman Brad Becker (Naperville North HS, Naperville, IL) scored 18 goals and had three assists. Becker's 18 goals was just two shy of Crist's former school record and is tied for the fourth best single season goal total ever with Gerry Meier (18 in 1982). Becker's 39 total points is fifth on the Vikings' single season list.

Junior Eric Workman (St. Charles HS, St. Charles, IL) also broke into the top ten lists with is team high 11 assists, which is the second best single season total ever. Only Jeff Valentini's school record 20 assists in 1996 is ahead of Workman.

The season began with four straight victories before a loss to Loras by a score of 3-1 on September 17 interrupted that streak. The Vikings rebounded from the loss to the Duhawks by beating Illinois Wesleyan and Monmouth before tying Wheaton. Following the Wheaton tie, Augustana won the next nine games before losing to Luther 2-0 in Decorah, Iowa on October 30. The Blue and Gold had a 12 game unbeaten streak (11-0-1) from September 20 until October 26, a stretch of over a month where they did not taste defeat.

Augustana earned a home game in the semi-finals of the CCIW tournament but lost to Millikin 3-0 less than three days after the emotional victory over Carthage.

2002 TEAM AWARDS

Most Valuable Offensive Player – Jason Ross

Most Valuable Defensive Player – Tim Diehl

Most Improved Player – Troy Grahn

2002 AUGUSTANA VIKINGS SUPERLATIVES

CCIW Conference Team Champions - 5-0-1 league record for first conference title in school history

School Record for Victories - 16-3-1 record, tying old mark of 16-4 set in 1999

School Record Goals in Single Season - 30 by Jason Ross, breaking old mark of 20 set by Tyson Crist in 1999

School Record Total Points in Single Season - 63 by Jason Ross, breaking old mark of 46 set by Tyson Crist in 1999

Single Season Top Ten List for Goals Scored in Single Season – 4^th Brad Becker with 18 goals

Single Season Top Ten for Total Points in Single Season – 5^th  Brad Becker with 39 points (18 goals thee assists)

Career Top Ten List for Goals Scored – 5^th Jason Ross with 45

Career Top Ten List for Total Points – 6^th Jason Ross with 100

CCIW "Player of the Week" on September 9 - Jason Ross

CCIW "Player of the Week" on November 4 - Jason Ross

NCAA All-Central Region – Jason Ross

NCAA Division III Statistics for Goals Scored – 1^st place Jason Ross at 1.50 goals per game (30 goals in 20 games)

NCAA Division III Statistics for Goals Scored – 20^th place Brad Becker at 0.95 goals per game (18 goals in 19 games)

NCAA Division III Statistics for Points Scored – 2^nd place (tie) Jason Ross at 3.15 per game (63 points – 30 goals & three assists – in 20 games)

NCAA Division III Statistics for Assists – 29^th place (tie) Eric Workman at 0.55 per game (11 assists in 20 games)

NCAA Division III Statistics for Team Goals – Eight place at 3.70 per game (74 goals in 20 matches)

NCAA Division III Statistics for Team Winning Percentage – 17^th place with .825 (16-3-1 record)

2002 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN MEN'S  SOCCER STANDINGS

* - Wheaton and Augustana are declared co-champions for the 2002 men's soccer season.

2002 CCIW Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jeremy Tolleson, Wheaton

COACH OF THE YEAR: Scott Mejia, Augustana