GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Sophomore Annie Wooldridge registered Wheaton's first goal on Tuesday.
Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton College women's soccer team earned a 4-1 win at home on Tuesday afternoon against Loras College in a battle of nationally-ranked foes. Wheaton is
ranked number-one in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) Division III Coaches Poll and Loras is ranked 14th in the same poll. Wheaton is now 8-0-0 on the year, while Loras falls to 7-2-1. The Thunder will return to action on Saturday at 6 PM in a contest at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Sophomore midfielder
Annie Wooldridge netted Wheaton's first goal tonight when she picked up a deflected shot and booted it into the upper post in the 13th minute thanks to a
Sarah Frey (PICTURED LEFT) and
Alexa Sharkey assist. Less than four minutes later, Wheaton's
Sydney Sharkey increased Wheaton's lead to 2-0. Her goal in the 17th minute came as she beat the Duhawks' defense and blasted in a long line drive shot into the net. Frey, a Thunder freshman, scored in the 21st minute to increase Wheaton's lead to 3-0. Frey headed the ball into the lower corner of the net off of a well-placed assist from
Samantha Frank. Wheaton out-shot the Duhawks 7-3 in the first half as the Thunder held a 3-0 at halftime.
Loras picked up the pace in the second half, out-shooting the Thunder 8-6. The Duhawks reached the scoreboard in the 51st minute when Madeline Tennant scored on a long shot that cut Wheaton's lead to 3-1. Wheaton's
Bailey Wysocki scored in the 69th minute to increase the hosts' lead to 4-1. Wysocki collected a deflected shot attempt by senior
Leah DeMoss to register the final score of the night.
Thunder head coach
Pete Felske said of his team taking a 3-0 lead in the first half tonight, "We were able to take the lead with three goals on just seven shot attempts. That's a key for us; if we can take advantage of the opportunities we get, that is huge for us."
Tonight's win was Wheaton's second consecutive victory against a nationally-ranked opponent, following a 1-0 win at number-three ranked Washington University-St. Louis on last Saturday. Felske noted of his team's victories against the nationally-ranked foes, "I think based on our first five games, when we weren't playing very well, the last couple of games have given us a ton of confidence. I think we always knew we could play good soccer, but up until the last couple of games we hadn't." Felske continued, "Now we are going into the conference schedule, the most important games, and now we see a tremendous amount of confidence."
