Gambier, Ohio – The Wheaton women's soccer team closed out the regular season Saturday afternoon with a 6-3 victory at Kenyon College (6-9-2). Wheaton has won six matches in a row and 10 of its last 11 contests. The Thunder improve to 11-7 on the season with today's win.
Anna Saunders scored for Wheaton in the sixth minute off of a corner kick to give Wheaton the early 1-0 lead. Maggie Smith of Kenyon tied the match at 1-1 when she scored on a through ball from Gillian Blackwell in the 20
th minute. Wheaton's
Morgan Whitman (PICTURED ABOVE) scored in the 33
rd minute to give the Thunder a 2-1 lead when she kicked in a deflection. Whitman's goal was assisted by
Sarah Gencarella and
Anna Saunders. The Ladies tied the match at 2-2 just 1:19 later when Kenyon's Morgan Engmann scored in the 34
th minute. The match was tied at 2-2 at the halftime intermission.
Whitman scored her second goal of the afternoon in the 54
th minute when she beat the keeper one-on-one to give Wheaton a 3-2 lead.
Hannah Cockrum collected a deflection in the 70
th minute and put the ball into the back of the net as she increased the Wheaton lead to 4-2. Senior
Sarah Frey blasted the ball into the net on a shot from the right side of the box in the 75
th minute for a goal that extended Wheaton's lead to 5-2. Kenyon's Maia Emden headed in a free kick in the 79
th minute to cut Wheaton's advantage to 5-3.
Autumn Rasmussen, Wheaton's goal-scoring leader this season, beat Kenyon goalkeeper Maria Paparella one-on-one in the 81
st minute to increase the Thunder lead to 6-3.
Wheaton goalkeeper
Kathryn McGregor made four saves and allowed two goals in 74 minutes of action in the Thunder net.
Mary Daghfal played the final 16 minutes in net for the guests, allowing one goal. Goalkeeper Jillian Countey started in net for the Ladies and she allowed two goals with zero saves in 45 minutes of action. Paparella made six saves and allowed four goals in 45 minutes of time in the Kenyon net.
Wheaton attempted 22 shots, including 12 shots on goal. Kenyon had 14 shots in the match, including seven shots on goal. Wheaton was awarded nine corner kicks on the afternoon and Kenyon had three corner kicks.
The top-seeded Thunder will host a CCIW Tournament Semifinal match on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. at Joe Bean Stadium. Wheaton's opponent and the remaining tournament seeds will be determined later today when the final conference matches of the season have concluded.
