Wheaton, Ill. -- The second match of the 2021 Bob Baptista Invitational saw Wheaton men's soccer team taking on the Raiders of MSOE at Joe Bean Stadium. In front of a large and raucous crowd, the Thunder put in a dominant performance, particularly in the second half, and sent the fans home happy with a 6-0 victory.

The opening 10 minutes of tonight's game proved to be an indicator of what was to come throughout the rest of the match with both teams flying out of the gates and creating a number of chances in attack. It was anyone's guess as to which side would strike first, but the answer arrived in the 17th minute when some nice build-up play from the Thunder released Silas Galvao down the right-hand side. After starting the season with four goals in half as many appearances, it was time for Galvao to turn provider, and he cleverly slipped the ball across the top of the box to the arriving Alessandro D'Argento, who registered his second goal of the campaign by redirecting the pass powerfully underneath the diving goalkeeper. 

The rest of the first half saw Wheaton develop the majority of clear-cut opportunities, including a looping header that bounced off MSOE's crossbar. Ron Marchionna had a busy night in the Raiders' goal, facing 10 shots on target across the 90 minutes. There was no lack of effort from MSOE going forward, but Wheaton's back line held firm and Hasten Biddlecome was only called into action a handful of times in the first half.

MSOE started the second half on the front foot, and it seemed as though the equalizer might soon arrive, but Wheaton soaked up the pressure and stung the visitors on the counterattack to double their lead. Joey Sopikiotis led the charge forward for Wheaton and had the vision to pick out Michael Martens on the corner of the box. Martens danced past a couple of pressuring defenders before driving the ball inside the far post with a forceful strike. It was Martens' second goal of the young season, and this one opened the floodgates for Wheaton in the remainder of the second half.

Just five minutes after Martens hit the jackpot, right-back AJ Moyes, fresh off his CCIW defensive player of the week nod, scored the first of his two goals on the night to all but wrap up the win for Wheaton and send the partisan crowd into raptures. This one came courtesy of a beautifully swept cross from his fellow full-back Brock Seneff, who put the ball on a plate for Moyes at the back post. Five minutes later, Moyes was there again to pounce on a defensive mistake and double his tally. 

It only took one minute more for Harrison Lee to get in on the fun and register his first goal of the year off of an assist from Pryce Anderson. The freshman Anderson then got his first goal in a Wheaton uniform by robbing the MSOE goalkeeper of possession at the top of the box and rolling the ball into an empty net. This put the seal on one of the most impressive halves of soccer in recent Thunder history. MSOE might be wondering how they did not get a goal or two of their own tonight considering their 14 shots, but there was only going to be one winner after the first 15 minutes of the second half, and Wheaton deservedly walked away with a comprehensive victory.

Full match statistics of note include a 10-4 disparity in the shots on target category in favor of Wheaton, four saves for both goalkeepers, three corner kicks for Wheaton to MSOE's one, two yellow cards for the Thunder compared to one caution received by the Raiders, and a 57% possession advantage for Wheaton.

While this win extends the Thunder's perfect start to the 2021 season, there is no time for resting on laurels, as Concordia-Chicago await Wheaton at 7 PM on September 11th in the final match of this weekend's competition. Despite falling 3-1 to Grinnell in their match today, the Cougars will be eagerly awaiting the chance to play spoiler at Joe Bean Stadium on Saturday night, and Wheaton will be hoping for a similarly inspired performance on day two.