Wheaton, Ill. -- The Wheaton men's soccer team ended the month of September and began conference play in satisfying fashion on Wednesday evening, defeating Augustana 2-0 on home turf. Both goals were set up by Joey Sopikiotis and finished by Silas Galvao, and the Vikings never threatened to break Wheaton's hold on the game.

Wheaton came into tonight's match as the favored team, based both on current form and history between the two sides. The Thunder were boasting a 5-1 record in the 2021 season, and in 42 previous meetings, Augustana had only beaten Wheaton twice. But the weight of expectation did not work against Wheaton as the home side seized the initiative from the first minute and ultimately cruised to a comfortable two-goal victory. In their first possession of the match, the Thunder moved the ball quickly down the field and registered an early shot on target to send a warning to their guests about what was to come. 

After a number of good attacking opportunities, the breakthrough arrived in the 16th minute, when Sopikiotis, the reigning CCIW offensive player of the week, turned provider and flicked the ball over the nearby Augie defenders into the path of Galvao. The senior out of Houston, Texas gathered the ball smoothly and fired it past the goalkeeper to give Wheaton the lead (VIDEO). While the Thunder continued to pile on the pressure, they were unable to find a second goal in the remaining minutes of the first half, and some resolute Vikings defending meant the hosts had to settle for a 1-0 halftime lead.

Shortly into the second half, Wheaton found the second goal they were desperately striving for in strikingly similar fashion. Once again, it was Sopikiotis linking up with Galvao about 15 minutes into the half, as the forward sent a low cross into the middle of the box for his teammate to run onto and finish with aplomb (VIDEO). This was Galvao's sixth goal of the season so far, a team-high. Augustana searched for an instant response to give themselves hope of a comeback, but it was not forthcoming, and the Thunder were able to send the sizeable Joe Bean Stadium crowd home with smiles on their faces.

Full match stats show a decisive advantage to Wheaton in each category. The Thunder finished the match with 32 shots, ten of which were on target, to Augustana's eight overall and two on frame. Hasten Biddlecome had one of his easier nights in the Wheaton net, only having to make two saves across the 90 minutes, while Augustana's #1 claimed eight of his own. The Thunder earned a logic-defying 14 corner kicks on the night and managed a dominant 69-31% possession advantage. Augustana received a red card in the 87th minute, after the same player was booked twice within an 11 minute span.

Coming up for the men's soccer team is a road trip to Waukesha, Wisconsin to take on Carroll in their next CCIW match on Saturday, October 2nd.