Naperville, Ill. -- The Wheaton men's soccer team came oh-so-close to pulling off back-to-back road upsets in the 2021 CCIW Tournament, but ultimately fell just short against the second-seeded North Central Cardinals. While the Thunder may not be satisfied with their loss or consolation prize of runners-up, they equipped themselves well against their hosts in Saturday's title match. The Cardinals pulled out a tight 1-0 victory, improved to 18-1-1 overall on the season, and earned the CCIW's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament.
Saturday's championship was a physical battle between the geographic neighbors. There were 33 fouls called across the 90 minutes and five yellow cards issued by the head official. North Central earned five corner kicks to Wheaton's two, but the Thunder out-shot the Cardinals 15-9 and managed three more shots on target than their hosts. Additionally, Wheaton forced seven saves from North Central and ensured that the favored side had to remain on guard defensively throughout the entire contest.
Wheaton started the match on the front foot, with midfielder
Alessandro D'Argento earning the first shot on target for either side off of a rising effort that was grabbed by North Central's keeper. D'Argento then produced the next two efforts at goal, as well, before the home team finally registered their first of the day in the eighteenth minute. It took nearly 25 minutes for goalkeeper
Hasten Biddlecome to be called into action in the Wheaton net, as the senior made the save on a low effort from North Central's Dane Richardson. Wheaton's best sequence of the first half came shortly before the 40 minute mark, when the Thunder fired off three attempts in quick succession.
Jack Jacquet and
Pryse Anderson both forced saves from Sid Marquardt, but Anderson saw his second effort miss the goal to the right. The teams traded blows throughout the period, and while neither managed to open the scoring, the visitors were the happier of the two sides, having taken the game to their hosts and causing general unease in the defensive ranks of North Central.
Unfortunately for the underdogs, the momentum from the first half did not last long after the intermission, as the Cardinals found the breakthrough with the first clear opportunity of the second 45. Herman Hesby collected the ball on the middle-left flank and played an incisive through ball for teammate Jaziel Enriquez to chase down. Biddlecome did his best to close the angle on the shooter, but Enriquez had enough time and space to pick out the far corner and slipped it in to give North Central the lead.
The Thunder almost came up with an immediate response. This time it was
Joey Sopikiotis's turn to test Marquardt, but his driving effort was also saved. D'Argento did the same two minutes later, as the guests continued to search for their equalizer. The two teams then traded shots and corner kicks, knowing that the next goal could go a long way towards determining the outcome of the match and the destination of the trophy. The second half saw considerably more attacking opportunities for both sides as the game became stretched and the tempo increased. The Thunder committed numbers forward and multiple players, including Sopikiotis,
Michael Martens, and
Drew Beamer, the hero of Wednesday's semifinal victory, came within inches of leveling the score. But the ball seemed destined to stay out of the North Central net, as a combination of resolute goalkeeping, imprecise finishing, and good fortune meant that Wheaton were ultimately unsuccessful in their quest to send the match into overtime. They made life difficult for their hosts, but the Cardinals had just enough in the tank to see the game out at 1-0.
The Thunder men's soccer team close the 2021 season out with a 10-7-1 overall record. It was a campaign full of highs and lows, but they ended the year in impressive fashion, pulling off a memorable upset against the regular season champions North Park en route to the program's first appearance in the conference tournament championship game for five years. While they did not manage to secure the big prize on offer in Saturday's contest, they can be proud of how they competed against a strong opponent who has only lost one match all season.
