BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's soccer team continues its run for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin trophy as it competes in the championship match this Saturday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. The Titans, the first sixth-seeded team in conference history to appear in the title match, will battle the Firebirds of Carthage College for the CCIW Tournament Champion title in Kenosha, Wis. at Art Keller Field. 

IWU took on Wheaton College this past Wednesday, Nov. 1, using penalty kicks once again to push the Green and White forward into the championship round. The Titans came out firing as they scored their opening two goals within the first six minutes of the game, taking a 2-nil lead early on. The Thunder inched their way back, scoring three goals to put them up for the next 70 minutes. Illinois Wesleyan evened the score with 10 minutes left in regulation, 3-3. 

The Titans and the Thunder went on to play 20 scoreless minutes of overtime, leaving the score at three apiece and prompting a penalty kick shootout to determine the advancing team. The Titans won the shootout, 7-6 over nine rounds. Sophomore Sam Kedzior (Cary, Ill.-Cary Grove) played a key role in helping IWU advance. He totaled 10 saves in the match and faced nine penalty kicks, saving three, to help keep the Green and White's season alive.

Illinois Wesleyan heads into Saturday's game 5-6-5 and are 3-3-2 in conference play, while the Firebirds are 11-5-2 overall, 4-3-1 in league action. Carthage most recently played the regular season champions North Central College, upsetting the Cardinals in double overtime, 4-3, to advance to the championship.

The two teams last faced each other Saturday, Sept. 23, serving as both teams' CCIW opener, and ended in a 1-1 tie. The teams, however, have been playing each other since 1995, with the Green and White's record against the Firebirds at 7-22-2. 

Out of the 31 meetings, three have been in the CCIW tournament back in 2008, 2016, and 2017. The Titans have yet to find a win over the Firebirds in tournament play.

The winner of this match will become the CCIW tournament champions and will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. 

The live stats can be found here, and the live stream can be found here.