Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder men's soccer team entered rare air on Saturday night as the Thunder rolled to a 4-1 victory over North Park under the lights at Joe Bean Stadium. With the victory, Wheaton secured its fourth consecutive outright CCIW Championship, a feat that hasn't been done since 2000. The victory secures home field advantage for the Thunder throughout next week's CCIW Tournament. Ranked #25 in this week's NSCAA Top-25, the Thunder dominated the second half action as Wheaton scored three unanswered goals. The loss also knocks the #21-ranked Vikings out of contention for the CCIW Tournament. Wheaton improves to 12-3-2 overall and 6-1 in CCIW action. North Park ends its season 12-4-2 overall and 3-2-2 in conference play.

Wheaton outshot the Vikings 26-12 including a decisive 13-5 second half edge. Wheaton attempted 11 corner kicks compared to just two for the Vikings. Wheaton's Matt Paprocki made four saves and allowed one goal in 90 minutes of action. Chris Tomuta allowed four goals but made six saves for the Vikings.

The opening minutes of the match featured an open playing field with both teams threatening to score and both teams narrowly missing. Finally in the 22nd minute, Marshall Hollingsworth and Andrew Wade (PICTURED RIGHT) teamed up on a give-and-go off a corner kick and Hollingsworth's shot from a sharp angle found the back of the net and gave Wheaton a 1-0 lead.

North Park would not take long to answer as a defensive mistake by the Thunder opened up Carel Kawele Kuzona, who finished a lengthy run with a confident strike to the far post that tied the game at 1-1 in the 29th minute. That score would hold until the halftime break with neither team threatening again in the first half.

Wheaton wasted very little time establishing themselves in the second half. The Thunder dominated the early possession and tilted the field until a terrific individual effort by Max Carey carry resulted in Carey's first goal of the season and gave the Thunder a 2-1 lead just three minutes into the second half. The Thunder threatened with another goal minutes later but Elliot Borge's shot was saved by Tomuta.

In the 65th minute, a well played ball from Tyler Robbins led to space for Noah Gulley, who blasted the ball to the near post to give Wheaton a 3-1 lead. Carrying the surge of momentum, Wheaton added a final tally at the 72:06 mark when Mitchell Grove took over possession off a loose ball and unleashed a strong shot to the far post for a 4-1 lead.

With the victory and home-field advantage, Wheaton will now the #4-seed North Central in a CCIW Semifinal match at 7 PM on Wednesday night at Joe Bean Stadium. #2-seeded Carthage will host #3-seed Elmhurst in the other semifinal. The top remaining seed will host the CCIW Tournament Championship on Saturday night with the winner securing the CCIW's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Note Worthy: Jake DeClute becomes just the third coach in program history to win a conference championship in his first year at the helm. DeClute joins Joe Bean (1969) and Russ Enlow (1968)...Marshall Hollingsworth has now scored a goal in each of the last six games dating back to Wheaton's scoreless tie at UW-Oshkosh on October 7. Hollingsworth has recorded at least one point in all but four games this season.