PICTURED ABOVE: Max Carey scored three goals in Wheaton's 4-2 victory at North Central on Saturday.
Naperville, Ill. - The Thunder men's soccer team claimed the inside track for the race for the CCIW Tournament on Saturday afternoon with a crucial 4-2 victory over the North Central Cardinals. With the victory, Wheaton now owns the tiebreaker over both North Central and Illinois Wesleyan for the final two spots in the upcoming CCIW Tournament. Wheaton is now 6-7-3 overall and 5-3 in CCIW play. North Central falls to 6-8-1 overall and 3-4 in the conference. Wheaton will conclude its regular season on Wednesday night when the Thunder host Millikin at 7 PM at Joe Bean Stadium.
Wheaton outshot the Cardinals 14-8 on Saturday with a 7-2 advantage in shots on goal.
Andrew Beard allowed two goals for the Thunder while North Central's Sebastian Garcia made three saves and allowed four goals for the Thunder.
North Central's Chandler Olah nearly landed the first blow early in the first half when his 11th minute shot pounded off the crossbar. In the 15th minute it was the Cardinals' Alexis Flores who was able to find the back of the Thunder net for his first goal of the season to give North Central the early 1-0 advantage.
Max Carey was able to even the score late in the first half on a
Max Carey goal in the 40th minute to level the score 1-1 as the teams headed to halftime.
Carey struck again early in the second half, scoring his second goal of the match in the first minute of the second half to give the Thunder a 2-1 edge. Carey completed his hat trick 12 minutes later in the 58th minute off a
Ben Bakke assist to give the Thunder a 3-1 edge.
Josh Greene's goal in the 81st minute pushed the lead to 4-1 before Flores scored his second goal of the match several minutes later to account for the 4-2 final score.
Wheaton will next be in action on Wednesday, October 26, when the Thunder wrap up their regular season schedule with a 7 PM matchup against the Millikin Big Blue at Joe Bean Stadium. Wheaton will clinch a spot in the CCIW Tournament with a win or tie against Millikin.
