PICTURED ABOVE: Jacob Kapitaniuk scored the game-winning goal in Wheaton's 2-0 victory over North Central.

Wheaton, Ill. - An early strike from an unlikely source set the tone for the night at Joe Bean Stadium on Saturday night. Jacob Kapitaniuk's blast from 20 yards out early in the first half gave the hosts an early lead that they would not relinquish in a 2-0 blanking of North Central. The victory is Wheaton's fourth consecutive win, pulling Wheaton to an 8-7 overall record and 4-2 in conference play. The victory also puts Wheaton's record above .500 for the first time since a season-opening victory over St. Olaf. North Central falls to 8-6-1 overall and suffer their first CCIW loss of the season to fall to 5-1 in conference action.

Wheaton dominated the scoring opportunities despite narrowly outshooting the Cardinals. The Thunder triggered 15 shots to North Central's nine, but Wheaton put eight shots on frame, while holding North Central without a shot on goal. Hasten Biddlecome posted his fourth consecutive shutout, benefiting from a quiet night. Connor O'Neill made six saves while allowing two goals in net for the Cardinals.

The Thunder slowly took control of the game flow in the opening minutes and used a beautifully built attack to piece together the game's first goal. Playing out of the midfield, Ayo Agunbiade played a long pass to the feet of Max Carey who dropped a one-touch pass to the on-running Jacob Kapitaniuk just outside the top of the 18-yard box. Shooting from straight on, Kapitaniuk's low blast beat O'Neill in the middle of the net to give Wheaton the 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.

Wheaton's goal led to a surge of possession and several threatening headers that were stopped by O'Neill. In the 33rd minute, Josh Greene sprung Max Carey free behind the North Central back line, leaving Carey to slot the ball past the outstretched arms of O'Neill, putting Wheaton ahead 2-0. That would prove to be all the action for the first half, allowing the hosts to take the two-goal lead to intermission.

Carey nearly capitalized on a free kick for his second goal of the night, bending a strong left foot around the defensive wall and toward the far post but O'Neill made an excellend save at full extension to parry the ball wide of the goal. Both teams had offensive rushes extinguished by stout shot blocking late in the half but Wheaton's back line refused to yield, thwarting any rally attempts by the Cardinals to secure the victory.

Wheaton will be back in action on Monday night, October 23, when the Thunder play host to Illinois Wesleyan at 7 pm in a postponed match originally scheduled for October 14.