PICTURED ABOVE: Elliot Borge scored the final goal in Wheaton's 4-1 victory over #18-Carthage on Wednesday night.

Wheaton, Ill. - A physical battle went the way of the Thunder on Wednesday night at Joe Bean Stadium. Playing against a talented Carthage squad that entered play ranked 18th in the country in the NSCAA Top 25, the Thunder dominated the possession and rolled to a 4-1 victory over the Red Men. The loss snapped a six-game unbeaten streak for the Red Men and moved their overall record to 8-5-1 and 2-1 in CCIW play. Wheaton improves to 8-3-2 overall and 2-1 in conference action. Wheaton will be at home again on Saturday afternoon when the Thunder host Illinois Wesleyan.

Wheaton outshot Carthage 18-12 in the match including a 12-7 edge in the second half. Carthage attempted eight corner kicks to Wheaton's five. Evan Bott made seven saves and allowed four goals for the Red Men. Matt Paprocki allowed on goal and made three saves for the Thunder.

Much of the first half was a series of missed opportunities for both teams. Wheaton controlled the possession while Carthage threatened several times on odd-man attacks. Wheaton narrowly missed taking the lead in the 29th minute off a breakout counterattack from a Carthage free kick. Marshall Hollingsworth (PICTURED RIGHT) collected a loose ball in the middle third off a free kick clearance and quickly played Noah Gulley into space across midfield. Gulley's run carried him from midfield to the top of the 18-yard box where his shot rolled just wide of the far post.

Five minutes later, another pass from Hollingsworth set-up Wheaton's first goal of the game when he played Tyler Robbins into space into the left side of the box and Robbins unfurled a low rising shot that hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced into the net to give Wheaton a 1-0 lead. Three minutes later Wheaton played tic-tac-toe across the field as Noah Gulley played a long pass through the box to Jon Clark on the end line and Clark played the ball back into the middle of the box where Hollingsworth confidently buried the shot inside the right post to give Wheaton a 2-0 lead.

Wheaton settled into a dominant possession style in the second half of the match and Bott turned away several threatening chances for the Thunder but a built attack early in the 72nd minute gave Wheaton an insurance goal. Trying to make a run into the right side of the box, Max Carey was dragged down, inducing a penalty kick opportunity that Hollingsworth finished to make it 3-0.

After Carthage scored in the 85th minute, Elliot Borge also converted a penalty kick in the 90th minute after Mitchell Grove was taken down at the top of the box to account for the 4-1 final score.