BOXSCORE

Bloomington, Ill. – The Wheaton women's soccer team was a 3-1 victor at Illinois Wesleyan University on Wednesday night. With the victory, Wheaton clinches the 2010 CCIW Women's Soccer Championship, the 14th conference championship in the program's history and the team's first CCIW Title since 2007.

Wheaton took an early 1-0 lead in tonight's contest when junior Katelyn Kishkunas assisted a Laura Karsten (PICTURED RIGHT) goal in the sixth minute of the match. Karsten was part of a large group in front of the net and managed to get the ball past goalkeeper Alli Novak for the Thunder goal. Illinois Wesleyan's Molly O'Brien tied the match when she scored for the hosts in the 13th minute with an open space in the net in front of her. The two teams were knotted at 1-1 at halftime.

In the 59th minute, a Kishkunas free kick was collected by Karsten, who again was part of several bodies in front of the net and she again recorded the goal to put Wheaton up. Wheaton scored its key third goal in the 76th minute when sophomore Val Lelle scored off of another Kishkunas free kick. Wheaton held off the Titan attack over the closing minutes to earn the victory and the conference crown.

Head coach Pete Felske noted after the match, “I liked our performance tonight. I thought it was a gritty performance, especially after giving up the tying goal. I thought it showed a lot of character and growth from our team, following their goal.” He continued, “The team overall played very well overall I thought.”

Wheaton out-shot the Titans 14-8, with a 10-3 advantage in shots on goal. The Titans were awarded seven corner kicks and Wheaton had four. Wheaton freshman Maddie Allen played the first half in net for the Thunder, with two saves and a goal allowed in 45 minutes. Sophomore Hilary Barreto was Wheaton's goalkeeper in the second half, with no shots on goal against her in those 45 minutes. Novak played all 90 minutes in the Titans' net, allowing three goals with seven saves.

Wheaton is now 15-2 on the season with a 6-0 conference record. The Thunder will close out the regular season at 4:30 PM on Saturday when it hosts Millikin at Joe Bean Stadium. Illinois Wesleyan picks up its first loss of the season to fall to 15-1-1 overall and 4-1-1 in CCIW action. Wheaton is ranked fifth in this week's D3soccer.com top-25 poll and ninth in the NSCAA Division III top-25. Illinois Wesleyan entered tonight's match ranked third in both polls.

As a result of Wheaton's win and the conference title, the Thunder has earned the top seed in next week's CCIW Women's Soccer Tournament. As the number-one seed Wheaton will host a CCIW Tournament Semifinal match against the number-four seed on Tuesday November 2 at 7 PM at Joe Bean Stadium, with the winner of that semifinal advancing to the CCIW Tournament Championship on November 6 at the tournament's highest remaining seed.