Wheaton, Ill. -- The Wheaton women's soccer team picked an awfully good time to earn their first overtime victory of the 2021 season. A dramatic, back-and-forth semifinal clash came to a stunning conclusion on Wednesday night, as the Thunder scored a goal in the 102nd minute of play to register a 2-1 win over the Augustana Vikings and book their place in the CCIW Championship match. Wheaton improves to 10-7-2 overall and will face the #3 seed North Central Cardinals in Saturday's title game after they upset second-seeded Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington.
Wheaton entered this week's tournament as the top seed in the conference thanks to their head-to-head victory over the Titans, but having dropped their last home match, the Thunder knew they would be in for another battle against a spirited Augustana side. In their first meeting this season, Wheaton brushed the Vikings aside by a score of 3-0 in Rock Island. But it was clear from Wednesday's opening exchanges that this contest would not be as straightforward.
Augustana made the first attacking move of the night by winning a corner kick three minutes in. The Thunder repelled the danger, and flipped the field soon after, with
Jensen Ellis firing off a shot and
Sophie Lindquist picking up the first shot on target of the match around the nine minute mark. Seven minutes later, the Vikings had two efforts on frame within a span of 50 seconds, and
Lauren Ketchum was called into action for the first time in the Wheaton goal. The Thunder responded once again through a pair of
Katherine Ashley attempts, and the flow of the game seemed perfectly balanced. But it was not long until Augustana found the breakthrough after a series of concerted attacking pressure. Three shots in the minutes immediately preceding the goal failed to find the target, but the visitors finally had their reward as the clock hit 39 when Carson Kekelik drove forward from midfield, found Lexi Dominguez with an excellent slide-rule pass, and the attacking midfielder buried a clinical strike inside the near post to give Augustana the lead. The goal was no less than the Vikings deserved after multiple passages of impressive intensity and creative play that caused Wheaton's back line all sorts of problems. The attack did not stop there, as Ketchum needed to make two more saves before the halftime break to keep the deficit at one goal.
Rebekah Max marked her return to the Wheaton lineup with a lively performance, and earned a shot on target four minutes before the break, but Augustana prevented Wheaton from leveling the score before the horn sounded.
Despite a pair of shots on frame from the Vikings in the opening minutes of the second half, it did not take Wheaton long to find a response. As the 55 minute mark approached,
Jensen Ellis carried the ball forward and found the feet of
Audrey Sexson with a similarly incisive pass that sliced the Augustana defensive line in two. Sexson had maneuvered herself into acres of open space and calmly slipped the ball past the on-rushing Augustana goalkeeper to give Wheaton the goal they desperately craved
(video here). The tying goal proved to be an obvious spark for the home team, as the Thunder went on to largely control the remainder of the match. Augustana only earned one more attempt on goal in regulation after Wheaton equalized, and the hosts pushed more numbers into attack in a clear bid to grab the victory in regulation. The Thunder posted six more shots and a corner kick down the stretch, but the clinical finish needed to win the match evaded the top seeded team, and they were forced to prepare for overtime with the score still tied at 1-1.
With the match finely poised and the golden goal rule in effect, it was obvious to everyone inside Joe Bean Stadium that the two teams were content to adopt a 'don't-lose' approach in the first overtime period. There was only one shot on target within the ten minute timeframe, and it came from Augustana's Kayla Garcia, who once again forced
Lauren Ketchum to be alert to the danger. Wheaton hit a pair of efforts in the period, but both failed to trouble Augustana's keeper, and the stage was set for the second overtime.
At this point, the memory of 2019 was undoubtedly fresh in the minds of Wheaton's more experienced players, and the hosts would be seeking to avoid another semifinal shootout defeat at the hands of the Vikings. Fortunately, Wheaton's
Tori Seeland ensured that there would be no such repeat failing, as the midfielder blasted in a showstopping effort from 25 yards out to win the match for the Thunder just seconds after the restart. Ellis once again played the role of provider, drawing two Augustana defenders in, only to lay the ball off for Seeland. The junior stepped up and smashed the ball with malice aforethought into the top right corner to elicit wild celebrations from her teammates and the home fans
(video here). With her first goal of the season, Seeland kept Wheaton's hopes of a conference tournament title alive and ended Augustana's campaign in painful fashion.
Next up, Wheaton hosts North Central in the CCIW Championship, and kick-off is scheduled for 7 PM on Saturday, November 6th. With a win, Wheaton would secure the regular season/conference tournament double for the first time since 2017 and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs.
As a reminder, tickets to Saturday's championship match will need to be purchased at the stadium on Saturday evening. The admission fee is $8 for adults and $5 for senior citizens, students, and children between the ages of 6 and 14. There is no admission fee for children five years and under or students of CCIW member schools provided that they present a current student ID at the gate. No season passes will be accepted in lieu of a purchased match ticket.
