PICTURED ABOVE: Isabelle Oliver scored the first two goals in Wheaton's 3-0 victory over North Central on Saturday night.
Wheaton, Ill. - For 45 minutes, the Thunder attack failed to produce despite a heavy attack advantage. Wheaton's second half proved to be plenty fruitful as the Thunder improved to 9-4-3 overall and 6-0-1 against conference opponents with a 3-0 victory over North Central. The win puts Wheaton on the verge of repeating as CCIW champions, needing a victory in their CCIW finale on Wednesday night at Millikin. North Central falls to 3-3 in the CCIW and 7-7-1 overall.
Wheaton held a 23-8 edge in shots with a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal.
Kathryn McGregor helped Wheaton record its fourth consecutive shutout by making five saves in net for the Thunder. Gretchen Frantz made six saves but allowed three goals for the Cardinals.
Despite a 14-4 shot advantage in the first half, Wheaton only placed three shots on frame and never seriously threatened the Cardinal goal as the half ended without a goal.
The Thunder wasted no time cashing in its attack in the opening minutes of the second half. Just two and a half minutes into the second half,
Carney Blake sent a low centering pass across the face of the goal and off the diving fingertips of Frantz, allowing
Isabelle Oliver an easy tap-in goal to put Wheaton ahead 1-0 in the 48th minute.
Oliver added her second goal of the game nine minutes later when she was on the receiving end of a long, high pass from
Anna Saunders that was headed around the keeper to double the Wheaton lead. Saunders nearly added a goal of her own in the 64th minute but her close-angle shot hit the near post and came bounding back away from the goal.
Emma Fisler capped Wheaton's scoring output with her first career goal following a long lead pass by
Sarah Van Wingerden.
Wheaton will wrap up its regular season with road games at Millikin (Wednesday, 5 pm) and Hope (Saturday, 7 pm). With tonight's victory, the Thunder clinch at least one home game in the upcoming CCIW Tournament.
