BOXSCORE

Wheaton, Ill. – The defending National Champion Wheaton women's soccer team opened its 2008 season on Friday afternoon with a 5-1 victory against Cal Baptist in the opening day of the Bob Baptista Invitational. Wheaton entered today's match ranked first in the NSCAA Division III Coaches Preseason poll and Cal Baptist is ranked seventh in the NAIA. With today's victory, Wheaton extends its winning streak, the second-longest in Division III history, to 46 matches.

The Thunder will host Eastern University (Pa.) on Saturday at 4:30 PM in the second day of the Bob Baptista Invitational, while Cal Baptist will take on DePauw University Saturday at 11:30 AM. DePauw beat Eastern, 2-0, in today's opening match.

Cal Baptist was the first team to score as Jacquelyn Witz scored on a Kylee Nicassio assist, 16:04 into the match. Wheaton would go on to score five unanswered goals, beginning with freshman Jamie Orewiler's first career goal at the 30:32 mark of the match; off of an assist by Brittany Bergh. Wheaton's lead increased to 2-1 just two minutes later when freshman Ali Kopelman collected her first collegiate goal at the 32:32 mark of the match thanks to a Bergh assist.

Wheaton's lead remained 2-1 for the remainder of the first half. The hosts' extended the lead to 3-1 when Kopelman put the ball into the net off of a double-assist from Jami Herrmann and Lauren Moser. Kopelman fed junior All-American Taryne Lee at the 72:76 mark of the match for Lee's first goal of the season. Junior midfielder Maria Della Torre scored 75:45 into the match off of another Kopelman assist to give Wheaton the 5-1 lead that would become the final score.

Wheaton out-shot the Lancers 18-14 in the match, including a 12-5 edge in the second half and the Thunder held a 6-3 edge in corner kicks. Justine Morey, the starting goalkeeper for the Thunder, made one save and allowed one goal in 45 minutes of work. Ingrid Erickson played 36:03 in net, with five saves and Karly Olson made one save in 8:57 of action. Cal Baptist's Emily Evanson played 77:42 in net, allowing five goals, with six saves. Brittany Buchanan played 12:18 in the Lancers' net.