Fond du Lac, Wis. -- The Wheaton men's soccer team had a road performance to remember today as they traveled to Wisconsin to take on Marian University and walked away with a 4-1 win. Both teams had a 1-0-0 record coming into this clash, which meant that someone's perfect start to the season would be halted. The answer to that question arrived quickly as an outstanding first half performance by the Thunder meant that the victory was almost guaranteed by halftime.

It was a commanding performance from the whole team, but the headlines were written by one player today. Silas Galvao, fresh off his clutch penalty kick conversion in Wheaton's home opener on Wednesday, registered a first half hat-trick to steal the show and set Wheaton on the path to victory. His first goal arrived just short of 12 minutes into the match when Drew Beamer centered the ball in front of goal and Galvao slid in to steer it home. Just six minutes later, Wheaton found a second in similar fashion when AJ Moyes set up Alessandro D'Argento to stick the ball in the back of the net. Wheaton were awarded a penalty kick in the 34th minute, and Galvao once again held his nerve from the spot to give Wheaton a 3-0 lead. The senior out of Houston, Texas had his hat-trick eight minutes later when he collected the ball after a blocked shot on the left side of the box and slotted it home at the far post.

Marian got a goal of their own in almost identical circumstances eleven minutes into the start of the second half after Drew Cowden found Fernando Gonzalez on the left side of the box to strike it inside the far post from about ten yards out. It offered the hosts a glimmer of hope, but there would be no dramatic second half comeback as the Thunder saw the remaining minutes out professionally and sealed an impressive road victory.

Wheaton outshot Marian by a considerable margin today, registering 22 overall and 11 on target, while the Sabres only managed two efforts on goal. Kevin Cervantes made seven saves in goal for Marian, while Wheaton's #1, Hasten Biddlecomb, only had to make one thanks to an impressive showing from Wheaton's back line. There was a yellow card caution issued to Marian in either half, but no Wheaton players saw their names go into the referee's book. Rounding off the stat line, the Thunder also bossed possession in the match, posting a healthy 61% total across the 90 minutes.

Next up for the Thunder is the Bob Baptista Invitational that will be hosted by Wheaton at Joe Bean Stadium on Friday, September 10th and Saturday, September 11th. The four-team event will see the Thunder take on MSOE and Concordia-Chicago on Friday and Saturday, respectively, with Grinnell taking part as well.