Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton College women's soccer team, ranked seventh in the
NSCAA Division III preseason coaches poll, opened its 2014 schedule with a 4-1 victory against Hope College in the first day of action at the Bob Baptista Invitational on Friday. The Thunder will host Alma College on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in the final day of the tournament.
Hope attacked early in the match to take an early lead when Kristin Hazlett scored for the Flying Dutch at the 9:02 mark of the match. Thunder sophomore
Sarah Frey collected a
Kendall Eitreim assist at 16:00 point of the contest and Frey's goal tied the match at 1-1.
Sydney Sharkey (PICTURED ABOVE) carved her way through the Hope defense at the 22:14 mark of the match to give the Thunder a 2-1 advantage.
Bailey Wysocki netted a goal in the closing minutes of the first half (41:04) to increase the hosts' lead to 3-1. The Thunder maintained the 3-1 advantage at halftime.
Alexa Sharkey (PICTURED LEFT) scored the fourth Thunder goal of the night. She blasted one into the back of the net at the 67:36 mark of the match for the 4-1 Wheaton lead that resulted in the final score.
Wheaton controlled the pace of the match for most of the contest as the Thunder out-shot Hope 26-13 on the night, including a 16-6 edge in the first half. Each team attempted three corner kicks in the match. Thunder starting goalkeeper
Kelsey Graham played 27 minutes in net, with one goal allowed and one save.
Abbey Fuster replaced Graham and made one save, with no goals allowed in her 53 minutes of work.
Mary Daghfal played 10 minutes in net, with no goals allowed. Hope netminder Kat Dickson made eight saves, with four goals allowed on the day.
Note Worthy: Today marked the first time in their tenure at Wheaton that sisters Sydney and
Alexa Sharkey recorded a goal in the same match…Wheaton is now 12-4-1 all-time against Hope…the Thunder victory improves head coach
Pete Felske's all-time record to 428-101-30 – Felske is the seventh winningest collegiate women's soccer coach in NCAA history.