Kenosha, Wis. (10/31) – The third-seeded Thunder men's soccer team utilized two goals in the final 10 minutes to earn a 3-1 win at second-seeded Carthage College on Tuesday afternoon in the semifinals of the CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament. Wheaton is now 11-7-3 on the season and Carthage ends the year with a record of 11-5-3.

With Tuesday's victory Wheaton advances to the CCIW Tournament Championship Match for the fourth consecutive year. Wheaton will host Augustana in the championship match at 7 PM on Saturday, because fourth-seeded Augustana upset top-seeded North Park in Tuesday's other semifinal, leaving Wheaton as the highest remaining seed. The winner of Saturday's championship match will earn the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament.

Sophomore Joel DeLass (RIGHT) gave the Thunder a 1-0 lead 32:28 into the match when he headed the ball into the net off of a Stephen Rigby assist. Wheaton's 1-0 lead held for most of the remainder of the match. However, Carthage tied the contest at 1-1 when Gary Mouradian scored for the Red Men 73:50 into the match off of a Max Zbilut assist. DeLass blasted his seventh goal of the season at the 81:30 mark of the match as Wheaton regained the lead with a 2-1 advantage. Senior co-captain Steve Rigby (RIGHT) secured the victory when he scored his team-best 11th goal of the season 86:48 into the contest.

Wheaton out-shot the Red Men 10-5 and the guests held a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks. Wheaton goalkeeper Ryan Souders made two saves and allowed one goal in 90 minutes of work in the Thunder net. Carthage netminder Andy Connor made four saves and allowed three goals as he played in the net for 90 minutes.

Head coach Joe Bean said of his team's performance today, “We created some good opportunities and we were able to capitalize on those opportunities at the right time.” The Thunder mentor added, “We feel like we have got some good momentum heading into Saturday. We have played well in the last few games.”