On Campus: Loras College eyes deep postseason run with help from Prairie Ridge grad Abby Eriksen

“Rough” is how Abby Eriksen described the start to her final collegiate soccer season.

And when things got rough, Eriksen decided to make a change.

“I took a step back and just focused on the game by game situations,” said Eriksen, a senior forward at NCAA Division III Loras College in Iowa. You can’t get to the end unless you focus on (what’s in front of you). If I’m going to end my soccer career, I’m going to go out fighting.”

After scoring five goals in the team’s first 11 matches, Eriksen fought back with an offensive barrage. The Prairie Ridge graduate has scored nine times in Loras’ last seven matches, including two goals each in the semifinal and championship round of the American Rivers Conference tournament last week.

For the second year in a row, Loras (16-0-3 overall, 8-0 A-R-C) has completed an unbeaten regular season and won the league’s regular season and tournament titles. The Duhawks open NCAA tournament play at 1 p.m. Saturday in their own regional against Wisconsin-Superior.

“I’ve definitely had more opportunities because our team has found its mojo,” said Eriksen, who is second on the team with 14 goals and 29 points.

The Duhawks made their first Final Four in school history last season, but the experience was unfulfilling for Eriksen. She tested positive for COVID-19 the day before the national semifinal and could not play in Loras’ 1-0 overtime loss to Christopher Newport.

“That fuels me up more to get back there,” she said. “The feeling of being in the tournament was incredible. We all want to be back.”

Four victories are necessary for Eriksen, a first-team all-conference selection, and her teammates to return to the Final Four. She has plenty of help thanks to fellow McHenry County area athletes Caitlin Scopa (Cary-Grove) and Rylee Quillen (Dundee-Crown).

Scopa, a senior, earned second-team all-conference as part of a defense that allowed only 13 goals all season.

“She’s our starting sweeper, and she’s like the conductor of the ship,” Eriksen said. “She is the main communicator. She never shuts up. That’s a good thing. She’s very vocal, very confident.”

Quillen, a junior, played in nine matches on defense. “She’s come off the bench in some big games and helped our team quite a bit,” Eriksen said. “She’s a very positive person on and off the field.”

Wilk helps USF to 8 straight: Junior cross country athlete Bailey Wilk (Huntley) earned All-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference honors by finishing third as an individual and was part of a University of St. Francis team that claimed its eighth straight women’s CCAC title last weekend.

Wilk, who earned all-conference honors for the third time in her career, finished the 5-kilometer course in 18:46.9. The NAIA Saints scored 20 points as a team and qualified for the national championships next week in Tallahassee, Fla.

EIU runs to Ohio Valley titles: On the strength of three all-conference athletes from the McHenry County area, Eastern Illinois swept the men’s and women’s Ohio Valley Conference cross country titles last month for only the second time in school history.

Senior Adam Swanson (Dundee-Crown) earned first-team honors by placing third in the 8K men’s race in 25:10.7, while McHenry’s Andrew Pilat, a graduate student, placed ninth in 25:36.2 to achieve second-team All-OVC. Eastern’s men won for the third year in a row.

In the 6K women’s event, Eastern won the team title by one point as junior Mackenzie Aldridge (Crystal Lake South) finished third in 21:58.1, earning first-team All-OVC honors.

Whitewater volleyball claims crown: First-team all-conference outside hitter Erin McNeil (Prairie Ridge) and Wisconsin-Whitewater won its 17th league tournament title last weekend to advance to the D-III national tournament for the 29th time in the past 30 seasons.

McNeil had 10 kills in the tournament championship match – a 3-1 victory against UW-Stevens Point. She ranks second on the team with 308 kills and 2.73 kills per set. Last month, she surpassed 1,000 career kills.

Carthage runs to historic finish: The D-III Carthage College men’s cross country team finished second Oct. 29 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships, the team’s best finish since 1975.

The Firebirds placed six runners in the top 20 finishers. Junior Topher Davis, a Crystal Lake South graduate, finished 42nd, covering the 8K course in 27:15.7. He was the team’s No. 7 finisher.

Honors at Augie: Huntley grad Kacper Cebula, a sophomore at D-III Augustana College was honored Nov. 1 as the CCIW men’s swimming athlete of the week after helping the Vikings win a season-opening dual meet Oct. 28 against Monmouth and contributing to a first-place finish at the five-team Halloween Invite at Illinois Wesleyan the next day. Against Monmouth, he won the 200-yard freestyle (1 minute, 47.73 seconds), the 100 breaststroke (1:02.25) and swam a leg on the victorious 200 free relay (1:31.09). At IWU, he was part of the first-place 500 free, 300 breaststroke, 200 medley and 200 free relays.

• Barry Bottino writes about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at barryoncampus@hotmail.com and follow @BarryOnCampus on Twitter.