Dubuque, Iowa - The Thunder men's soccer team is once again one of the last eight teams standing in Division III after the Thunder overcame a blizzard and a determined St. Olaf team on Friday afternoon. With several inches of snow falling during the match, both teams scored their only regulation goal in the opening minutes of the second half before Max Carey netted the game winner near the midway point of the first overtime to give Wheaton the 2-1 lead. Wheaton advances to face Loras in Saturday's Sectional Final at 5 PM with the winner advancing to the Final Four in Kansas City. Wheaton is now 15-3-3 on the season while St. Olaf ends their season 14-8-1.

Wheaton held a 23-18 edge in shots on goal with a majority of those chances coming in the first half. Wheaton was outshot 11-8 in the second half and both teams had two shots in the overtime period. Wheaton's Matt Paprocki (PICTURED RIGHT) saved eight shots and was aided by a pair of team saves. Ben Braman made eight saves for the Oles.

The Thunder came rolling out of the games and peppered the Oles with early shot attempts and almost had an early tally but a save by Braman of a Stephen Golz effort stemmed the tide momentarily. The Oles quickly answered back with a threat in the 11th minute but Paprocki came up with a big save as the Thunder survived a scramble in the box.  Golz threatend twice more at the midway point of the when his shot rattled off the crossbar and a follow-up header flew just over the top of the goal.

Wheaton looked to be ready to strike in the 37th minute when a hand ball was called in the box against St. Olaf leading to a Thunder penalty kick. Perfect on the season in penalty kick attempts, Marshall Hollingsworth's attempt was turned away by Braman to keep things scoreless into the intermission.

Not even a minute passed in the second half before Wheaton was able to find the scoreboard. A missplay by Braman and a slip in the snow opened the net for Golz who cashed in to give Wheaton the initial lead. Two minutes later, the Oles were able to equalize on a ball across the mouth of goal that was finished to restore the level ground.

St. Olaf continued surging forward in the following minutes as the Thunder were able to clear a loose ball off the goal line and St. Olaf had a goal wiped away with an offsides call. Elliot Borge and Golz each had late opportunities for the Thunder but could not cash in, sending the game to overtime.

In the 95th minute, Paprocki stepped up with a save and quickly sent the ball back into play to start the Wheaton rush. As the ball bounced free in the St. Olaf box, Max Carey (PICTURED LEFT) launched a strike to the far post that sent Wheaton into a wild celebration and stunned the Oles