BOXSCORE

Wheaton, Ill. – The second-seeded Thunder men's soccer team defeated third-seeded Carthage College on Tuesday night at Wheaton's Joe Bean Stadium in a Semifinal match of the 2009 CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament. Wheaton has participated in every CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament since it began in 2002 and has never lost a semifinal match (8-0).

With tonight's win, Wheaton has advanced to the CCIW Tournament Championship Final on Saturday. The Thunder will play the winner of a semifinal match that will be played on Wednesday at 7 PM between top-seeded Elmhurst and fourth-seeded Augustana. Saturday's Tournament Final will be played at the highest remaining seed.

In tonight's match between Wheaton and the Red Men, the two teams played to scoreless draw in the first half. Wheaton out-shot Carthage 8-5 in the first half.

Wheaton gained control of the pace of the match in the second half, out-shooting the Red Men 14-6 in the second half. Wheaton was awarded a penalty kick 57:33 into the match when Carthage fouled a Wheaton player in the box. Senior Matt Swartz took the penalty kick and blasted it in to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Wheaton secured the victory with a pair of goals, less than a minute apart in the final eight minutes. Freshman Dan Pavlak headed the ball into the net at 82:53 off of a Swartz assist. Shortly after Pavlak's goal, junior Stephen Mesko scored off of a Jason Lollar assist at 83:37 to assure Wheaton of the win.

Wheaton out-shot the Red Men 22-11 in the victory, with a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks. Wheaton goalkeeper Ryan Seager made three saves in 90 minutes of work to post his fourth shutout of the season. Carthage netminder Aaron Dirck made eight saves and allowed three goals in the guests' net.