A little more than two months into St. Ambrose University's membership in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the Fighting Bees own a conference title.
The women's soccer team completed their first CCAC campaign unbeaten, finishing 10-0-2 with a 3-1 win at Cardinal Stritch on Oct. 31. The title earns the Queen Bees (12-4-2 overall and ranked 22nd in the latest NAIA poll) home-pitch advantage throughout the upcoming CCAC postseason tournament. St. Ambrose will host Judson Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Davenport Soccer Complex.
The women also have claimed one of two CCAC automatic berths into the NAIA National Tournament thanks to their regular-season title, which Coach Jon Mannall called "a phenomenal performance, quite simply."
Mannall said the Chicagoland Conference represented a serious step up in class for his team. "To go through undefeated is quite significant," he said. "There are no easy games."
The veteran coach credited the leadership of seniors Regan McLaughlin, Tori Novak and Jessica Mlachnik as well as junior co-captain Kaelin Trippe for his team's strong CCAC debut.
Other SAU teams competing in the CCAC this fall also are more than holding their own. Both the women's volleyball and men's soccer teams qualified for berths in their conference postseason tournaments, where only eight of the league's 13 teams advance.
Mannall's men's soccer squad finished 6-5-1 in their initial conference season and will travel for a postseason tournament quarterfinal vs. a still-to-be-determined opponent on Saturday, Nov. 7.
The women's volleyball squad won four of its past five games to earn their top eight spot. They will compete in a tourney quarterfinal on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Meanwhile, the men's and women's cross country squads will vie in their initial CCAC conference meets on Saturday, Nov. 7, in Bourbonnais, Ill.
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