PICTURED ABOVE: Izzy McNally scored two goals in Wheaton's 4-0 victory over Northwestern on Friday night.
Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder women's soccer team opened play in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night by cruising to a 4-0 victory over the University of Northwestern on a cold and windy night at Joe Bean Stadium. Wheaton scored in the first 100 seconds of the match and never looked back en route to improve to 17-3-1 on the season. The Eagles, making their second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, end their season with a record of 11-7-4. Wheaton advances to Saturday night's Second Round match against Loras College. The Duhawks advanced with a 1-0 double overtime victory over Adrian College.
Wheaton handily out shot the Eagles, holding a 34-5 edge in shots and a 15-3 advantage in shots on goal. Samantha Colombo made 11 saves and allowed four goals in net for Northwestern.
Lauren Ketchum made two saves in 57:49 of work for the Thunder.
Madison Lee played the final 32:11, making one save.
Playing the first postseason match of her collegiate career,
Aeva Graber wasted no time putting her mark on the match. In the second minute, Graber stole a Northwestern pass, drove into the box and drove a left-footed shot to the far post, putting Wheaton ahead 1-0 just 91 seconds into the match. Six minutes later,
Izzy McNally's run down the left side and into the box left the ball for
Jensen Ellis, who played into the center of the goal where
Isabelle Oliver redirected the ball past Colombo for a 2-0 lead in the eight minute.
Attacking into the wind did not slow the Thunder attack as the hosts fired 19 shots, rattling the woodwork with three shots that prevented the Thunder from augmenting its lead before the halftime break.
McNally put her stamp on the game again early in the second half, tucking a shot from 30 yards out inside the near post for her first goal of the season in the 51st minute. Six minutes later, McNally broke free into the box from the left side and blasted a shot to the far side of the net, putting Wheaton ahead 4-0 at the 56:42 mark.
Colombo stemmed the tide for the Eagles, keeping the deficit at 4-0 by making nine saves in the second half and holding the final score at 4-0.
Wheaton's Second Round match will kickoff at Joe Bean Stadium on Saturday night at 6 pm.
