Kenosha, Wis. (10/25) – The Wheaton College men's soccer team earned a critical 5-0 victory at Carthage College (10-4-3/4-1-1) on Wednesday night. With the win Wheaton improves to 9-7-3 on the season and 4-2-1 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play. Tonight's victory secures Wheaton a berth in the upcoming CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament that will begin next Tuesday. Wheaton's seed and opponent in the tournament has yet to be determined. The winner of the CCIW Tournament Championship Match on November 4 will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Tonight's win also marked the 600th victory in the 45-year coaching career of Wheaton head coach Joe Bean. Bean, the winningest coach in the history of collegiate men's soccer, becomes the first soccer coach to reach the 600-win plateau. He now has a career record of 600-183-59. Wheaton will host Lake Forest College on Friday night in the final regular season match of Bean's storied career. Bean, who has announced he will retire at the end of the season, will be honored in a ceremony before Friday's match as the College will re-name the Thunder soccer facility (currently known as East McCully Field) Bean Stadium.
Following tonight's win Bean noted of the 600-win milestone, “I have been blessed with talented players, wonderful facilities and resources through the years.” He added, “Someone will break it, but it is nice to be the first to do it.”
Wheaton and Carthage battled to a scoreless tie for the first half of tonight's match. Sophomore Jonathan Liechty (RIGHT) gave Wheaton a 1-0 lead when he scored in the 47th minute. Freshman Ari Hyde scored on a penalty kick in the 61st minute and senior Steve Rigby booted a penalty kick in the 67th minute to increase the Thunder advantage to 3-0. Sophomore Ben Theimer headed the ball into the net in the 76th minute and Dolph Westlund accounted for the 5-0 victory when he scored in the 80th minute.
Wheaton out-shot the Red Men 11-3 in the match as the guests held an 8-4 advantage in corner kicks. Thunder goalkeepers Ryan Souders and Ben Dons each saw time in the net as they combined with the Wheaton defense to record the team's seventh shutout of the season.
Bean said of his team's scoring outburst in the second half, “At halftime we told the team it was only a matter of time before we would score. We put a lot of pressure on Carthage in the first half and we saw the results of that in the second half.” Bean noted of his squad's assurance that it will be playing in the CCIW Tournament, “I believe that now we will play more relaxed and with more composure.”
