Naperville, Ill. - The Wheaton men's soccer team traveled to North Central College (15-1-1, 5-1-1 CCIW) for a key CCIW match against the Cardinals on Wednesday evening. NCC defeated the Thunder 5-1. 

Wheaton is now 8-6-1 overall and 3-3-1 in CCIW play. Wheaton concludes its regular season schedule on Saturday at Millikin at 1:30 p.m. in a match with key CCIW Tournament implications. A victory against the Big Blue would give Wheaton the No. 4 seed in next week's four-team CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament. A win would put Wheaton and Elmhurst in a tie for fourth-place at 4-3-1, however the Thunder would earn the No. 4 seed with a tiebreaker thanks to last Saturday's Wheaton victory against the Bluejays.

North Central led the Thunder 1-0 at halftime tonight. The Cardinals' Johnny Kraemer converted a penalty kick in the 26th minute to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Each team took eight shots in the first half, with three shots on goal for Wheaton and two for the Cardinals.

Brandon Harmsen tallied a goal for the Cardinals in the 63rd minute to extend the hosts' lead to 2-0. Wheaton's Michael Martens trimmed the NCC lead to 2-1 with his fifth goal of the season in the 72nd minute. North Central's Dane Richardson scored in the 77th minute and Kevin Johnson of the Cardinals added a goal in the 80th minute to increase the NCC lead to 4-1. North Central's final goal came in the 86th minute on a kick by Herman Hesby.

North Central had 22 shots in the match, with 20 shot attempts for the Thunder. The Cardinals had 11 shots on goal, with seven for the Thunder. Wheaton was awarded four corner kicks, with three for the Cardinals.

Wheaton goalkeeper Hasten Biddlecome made six saves with five goals allowed in 90 minutes of work for the guests. North Central netminder Sid Marquardt registered six saves and he allowed one goal.