Spartan Women Advance to NAC Tournament Final

AURORA, Ill. November 1, 2007 - The Aurora University Spartans women’s soccer team, the 25th ranked team in the country, won there Northern Athletics Conference Tournament semi-final game 2-1 against the Concordia University, WI Falcons Thursday afternoon on AU Field.

This match-up came down to pure determination in the hard fought contest by the Spartans. The Spartans came out hungry and would not let any team stand in the way of them getting to the Northern Athletics Conference Tournament Championship Game.

With the win, AU (18-2-1) extends their win streak to 18 games and Concordia concludes their season with a 10-9-1 record.

The first goal of the game for either team came in the 18th minutes when Spartan sophomore forward Jessica Novickas, giving her 18 goals on the season. Novickas was assisted by junior midfielder Katie Powell.

Both teams played a scoreless 50 plus minutes with plenty of chances by the Spartans but were thwarted on several of those attempts by Concordia freshman goalkeeper Mary Ryan. Ryan would finish the day with 11 saves.

The eventual game winning goal was scored on a penalty kick by Aurora senior defender Alex Contreras in the 77th minute of the game following a Falcon penalty in the goalkeepers’ box.

AU sophomore goalkeeper Jenny Jarvis saw her shutout streak end in the 88th minute of the second period when Concordia sophomore forward Jaclyn Ventimiglia scored an unassisted goal, her 16th of the season. Jarvis’s scoreless streak was just over 471minutes long.

Aurora had a commanding lead in shots on goal (13 to 2) and in corner kicks (7 to 2) but had to hold on in the waning minutes of the game to advance and host the Northern Athletics Conference Tournament Championship Game.

Next action for the No. 25 ranked Spartan women's soccer team comes on Saturday, November 3, 2007 when they host the 2007 Northern Athletics Conference Championship game. AU will host the winner of this evenings NAC Semi-Final game against Edgewood College and Dominican University. Game time on Saturday will be determined following tonight's contest and will be played on AU Field.