PICTURED ABOVE: Mary Daghfal made eight saves on Friday, including two critical saves in the final five minutes to preserve Wheaton's 2-1 victory

Whitewater, Wis. – The Wheaton women's soccer team jumped out to a 2-0 lead and hung on for a 2-1 win against Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday night in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament. Wheaton (16-6-0) advances to a Second Round matchup at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday against the host Warhawks of UW-Whitewater. UW-Whitewater (18-4-0) was a 1-0 winner in the first overtime against Carroll University in a first-round matchup tonight.

Wheaton was fouled in the penalty area just 8:14 into tonight's matchup with Gustavus Adolphus to setup a penalty kick for the Thunder. Sarah Van Wingerden converted her third penalty kick of the year to give Wheaton the 1-0 lead. Despite Wheaton's 1-0 lead in the ninth minute, the first shot of the game did not come until a shot on goal by Maddison Ackiss of Gustavus in the 12^th minute that was saved by Thunder goalkeeper Mary Daghfal.

Wheaton's first shot attempt of the night came at the 17:25 mark of the match and was a shot on goal by senior forward Kristin Rauh (PICTURED LEFT). Rauh's shot glanced off the post and went into the goal to give the Thunder a 2-0 lead thanks to an assist by senior captain Samantha Frank.

Senior Ally Witt had the only other shot on goal in the first half for the Thunder. Wheaton held a 5-4 advantage in shots in the opening half as the Thunder owned a 2-0 lead at the halftime intermission.
Wheaton continued to pressure the Gusties in the first 20 minutes of the second half as the Thunder held a 7-2 advantage in shots in that stretch. Emily Skogseth of Gustavus Adolphus registered the Gusties' first goal in the 67^th minute to trim Wheaton's lead to 2-1.

A shot attempt by Wheaton's Annie Wooldridge in the 68^th minute and one by Witt in the 78^th minute would be only shots take by Wheaton following Skogseth's goal. The Gusties' however continued to attack the Thunder after the goal with seven shots after the goal, including two in the final minute. Ackiss had an outstanding scoring opportunity for the Gusties with just 4:03 remaining in regulation, but Daghfal made the crucial save as Wheaton held on to its 2-1 lead. Gustavus' Chaselyn Miller had one final scoring opportunity with four-seconds left in regulation, but Daghfal again made the stop to preserve the win for the Thunder.

Daghfal had a strong night in net with eight saves and just one goal allowed in 90 minutes of action. Gustavus Adolphus goalkeeper Ashley Becker made three saves and allowed both of Wheaton's first-half goals in her 90 minutes of work.

Each team attempted 14 shots in the match, however the Gusties had nine shots on goal and Wheaton had five. Wheaton was awarded seven corner kicks in the match and the Gusties had one.