Wheaton, Ill. – A furious second half rally erased an early 2-0 Thunder lead as the Wheaton men's soccer team fell 3-2 in overtime to North Central on Tuesday night. Alexis Flores scored twice in the second half and capped the hat trick 112 seconds into overtime to give the Cardinals their second-straight overtime victory and move the Cardinals to 5-3-1 overall and 2-0 in the CCIW. Wheaton drops its second-straight conference match, falling to 6-4-1 overall and 0-2 in the CCIW. Wheaton will host Illinois Wesleyan on Friday night as part of Homecoming Weekend with kickoff slated for 7 pm.
 
North Central ended up using an 8-4 shot advantage after halftime to outshoot the Thunder 12-11 with a 7-6 edge in shots on goal. Marco Soto made four saves and allowed two goals for the Cardinals while Hasten Biddlecome allowed three goals and made four saves for the Thunder.
 
With play predominantly in the midfield in the opening minutes, Silas Galvao unleashed a lightning quick strike (VIDEO), taking a drop-off from Dillon Etter just across the midline and blasting lazer into the net from long range to give Wheaton the early 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.
 
North Central nearly answered just moments later when Alexis Flores broke free behind the Thunder back line only to be turned away by Hasten Biddlecome who came rushing off his line (VIDEO) to make a sliding save at the top of the 18-yard box.
 
With Wheaton setting the pace of play, the Thunder build their second goal out of strong possession, sliding the ball across the top of the 18-yard box with Stafford Dowling and Alessandro D'Argento getting the ball to AJ Moyes (VIDEO) who slide the ball past Soto to the far side of the net for a 2-0 lead. North Central was able to stabilize the momentum as the first half wore on, keeping the score at 2-0 at halftime.
 
The momentum began sliding back to North Central as the Cardinals picked up their play early in the second half. The Cardinals were able to break through in the 58^th minute when a foul in the box led to a penalty kick goal for Alexis Flores. With the play growing more physical as the half wore on, North Central continued to press forward, finding the equalizer in the 77^th minute when Flores was sent through on a long pass from Austin Lombardi, one-timing the ball past Biddlecome to tie the match.
 
After the Thunder held on to force overtime, another long ball provided the game-winner for the visitors with Flores finishing a one-time chip over the head of the on-rushing Biddlecome for the 3-2 victory.