Box Score The Carthage College women's soccer team (13-5-1, 5-2-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) lost to No. 4 Wheaton College (Ill., 17-1-2, 6-1-0 CCIW), 5-0, on Saturday night, Nov. 9 in the championship game of the CCIW Women's Soccer Tournament at Joe Bean Stadium in Wheaton, Ill.

With the win, Wheaton earned the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship. This was Carthage first appearance in the tournament final since 2007.

The Lady Reds advanced to the title game with a 4-2 shootout win over No. 20 Illinois Wesleyan University (12-2-5, 5-1-1 CCIW) on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at the Neis Soccer Field in Bloomington, Ill. The two teams played to a 1-1 tie in double-overtime. In the other semifinal contest on Wednesday, Nov. 6, CCIW-champion Wheaton (Ill., 16-1-2, 6-1-0) got by Augustana College (Ill., 12-4-4, 4-2-1 CCIW), 1-0, also at Joe Bean Stadium.

In the title game, Wheaton took an early, 1-0 lead on a goal by Leah DeMoss, unassisted, at 10:59. Sarah Frey scored at 39:03, assisted by Sarah Sharkey, to make it 2-0, and Annie Hamilton scored, unassisted, at 44:06 to give the Thunder a 3-0 lead at halftime. In the second period, Kristin Rauh scored at 48:54, assisted by DeMoss, and Wheaton led, 4-0. The margin went to 5-0 at 53:50 on a second goal by DeMoss, her 10th of the year and assisted by Bailey Wysocki.

The Lady Reds completed the second-best turnaround in CCIW women's soccer history this season, going from 1-4-2 in 2012 to 5-2-0 this season. Only Illinois Wesleyan University, with a 5-2-0 improvement in 1999 over a 1-5-1 finish the previous year has improved that much from one year to a next.

Carthage, not ranked in the Nov. 6 NCAA Division III Central Region poll, is probably a long shot for an NCAA berth. The selection show for the 2013 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship will be broadcast at www.ncaa.com on Monday, Nov. 11 at 12:30 p.m., CST.