Waukesha, Wis. -- 110 minutes of play was not enough to separate Wheaton and Carroll on Saturday night, as the Thunder had to settle for a draw in their second conference match of the season. This result was Wheaton's first tie of the campaign and puts them at 1-0-1 in conference play.

After a delayed kick off caused by a weather-enforced stoppage in the women's match, the two teams began the game in physical fashion, with nine fouls called in the first eighteen minutes. Wheaton generated the first few scoring chances of the match as Alessandro D'Argento had a shot blocked and Michael Martens registered the opening shot on target after 23 minutes. The Pioneers responded with a couple of shots themselves, but the two teams canceled each other out during the remainder of the half. Despite earning three corner kicks and building pressure on the Carroll goal, the Thunder could not find an opening goal. Defending was ultimately the name of the game for Wheaton and Carroll alike, as the first 45 minutes resulted in a scoreless draw.

The second period picked up right where the first one left off, with Wheaton creating three corner kick opportunities. While none of these chances came to fruition, the Thunder did score the opening goal just nine minutes after the restart. Martens found the back of the net on a solo effort to break the deadlock, and given the flow of the match, it seemed as though his goal might be enough for Wheaton to clinch the victory.

The remaining minutes of regulation were once again filled with fouls on both teams and chippy play, as Wheaton looked to preserve their lead and slow the game down, while Carroll tried to force a mistake from the visitors. With ten minutes remaining, the Pioneers had only brought about two second-half saves by Hasten Biddlecome, and it appeared as though Wheaton would have enough gas in the tank to see the game out. Seven minutes from full-time, however, Carroll finally found their equalizer when the ball bounced around the Wheaton penalty area and Josh Gonzaga connected sweetly on a volley to divert the ball into the Wheaton net. Joey Sopikiotis had a chance to snatch the win for the Thunder with only twenty seconds left on the clock, but Carroll made a last-ditch team save to send the match into overtime.

Wheaton created all of the attacking opportunities in the first overtime period, picking up three shots and corner kicks, but neither team strayed too far out of their comfort zone, as both sides understood how damaging a golden goal loss would be. The second overtime was even more cagey, with a save by Wheaton's Biddlecome the only statistic of note. After a grueling night of hard-fought conference action in Wisconsin, the two teams shook hands and parted ways without being able to find a late winner.

Unsurprisingly, the full match box score reflected an even contest. Wheaton held the advantage in shots with 11 to Carroll's 7, but the Pioneers put more of their chances on target. Wheaton had four saves across the 110 minutes, while Carroll made three of their own. The Thunder also held the edge in corner kicks (eight to five) and possession of the ball with a 55-45 split. There were three yellow card cautions issued in tonight's match, two of which were shown to Wheaton and one to the hosts.

The next time the men's soccer team will take the pitch is on Wednesday, October 6th, when they face North Park in a CCIW clash at Joe Bean Stadium.