Rock Island, Ill. – The Wheaton women's soccer team rallied to defeat Augustana 2-1 on Wednesday night in the semifinal of the CCIW Women's Soccer Tournament.
 
The Thunder advances to the CCIW Women's Soccer Tournament Championship Match in Bloomington, Illinois on Saturday and will face top-seeded Illinois Wesleyan at 4:00 p.m. The winner of Saturday's Championship Match will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament.
 
Wheaton controlled the pace in the first half of tonight's match in Rock Island. The Thunder took six shots in the first 45 minutes and the Vikings had just one shot attempt. The matchup was tied 0-0 at the halftime intermission.
 
Augustana's Jessa Rizzo gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the 66^th minute when she scored the first goal of the match off of an assist by Grace Iaquinto. Wheaton responded five minutes later when Thunder senior Kristin scored the game-tying goal in the 72^nd minute. Fellow senior Sydney Sharkey passed the ball from the right corner of the field to Rauh who was in front of the net and put the ball past Augustana keeper Meredith Chew to tie the match at 1-1. The score remained tied at 1-1 for the rest of the second half. The Vikings held a 5-2 edge in shots in the second half.
 
Wheaton scored the game-winner early in the first overtime. A Sharkey corner kick from the right corner went past the goal to Anna Suanders who moved the ball to Ally Witt who passed the ball head-high to Rauh and she headed the ball into the net for the 2-1 victory just 3:53 into the match. The two-goal effort y Rauh was the senior's third- multi-goal game of the season.
 
Thunder goalkeeper Mary Daghfal made two saves and allowed one goal in 96 minutes of action in the Thunder net. Chew made five saves and allowed two goals in the Vikings' net.
 
Wheaton had a 10-6 advantage in shots in the match. The Thunder was awarded nine corner kicks in the match and Augustana received seven corner kicks.