Chicago, Ill. -- The sixth-ranked team in the country were 11 minutes away from another conference win and clinching a first round bye in the upcoming CCIW Tournament. But lightning struck twice in the Windy City, and for the second season running, the Wheaton men's soccer team scored two goals in the closing minutes to upset North Park on the road by a score of 2-1. Tonight's victory for the Thunder improves their conference record to 4-1-2 and moves the team into a tie for second place in the standings. But the win has even more significance beyond the final score, as first-year head coach Steve McCrath earns a signature win and the team completes a perfect 4-0 record in conference road matches for the first time since 2010.

The match got off to a slow and physical start, as five fouls were called and a yellow card was issued to the hosts before the first shot was even attempted. North Park opened the scoring in front of a sizable home crowd in the 27th minute when their forward tapped home from close range following a fortuitous initial hit that fell right into his path. The Thunder did not offer much of a response in terms of attacking intent, mustering only one shot on target before the end of the half, but they crucially prevented the Vikings from extending their lead any further.

The second half saw considerably more progressive play, as the two teams combined for 17 shot attempts after the intermission. Wheaton generated three shots in quick succession ten minutes into the period, but the North Park defense held firm. Limiting the hosts to only two attempts on frame and one effort off of the crossbar in the second 45, Wheaton picked their moment to equalize when Mason Louth scrambled the ball home from a corner kick situation in the 80th minute. The cross into the box was put on frame via a diving header from Brock Seneff, and while the Vikings' goalkeeper made a smart initial reflex save, the ball popped out to Louth, and the freshman powered it in through a crowd of bodies at the second time of asking.

A draw would have suited both teams nicely, but the Thunder were determined to take the spoils for themselves. With just four minutes remaining, Harrison Lee pounced on a long ball over the top of the North Park back line, and in a quality example of hold-up forward play, waited for Pryse Anderson to arrive in support alongside him before rolling the ball into his path. Anderson drove forward in possession and unleashed a clinical strike from the top right corner of the box across the goalkeeper's body to put Wheaton ahead and cap a stunning late turnaround. To make things even better for Wheaton, there was no holding on for dear life at the end of regulation, as North Park failed to register another shot attempt after Anderson's go-ahead goal. The successful comeback meant that the Wheaton men's team had earned their first pair of back-to-back wins at North Park since the 2008 and 2010 regular seasons.

Impressively, the Thunder out-shot their top ten hosts tonight, posting 15 attempts to North Park's eight and putting six efforts on target while limiting their opponents to just three. Wheaton fashioned two corner kicks in the match and the Vikings had three of their own. Playing his first full match of the season, Mason Escalante made two saves in the Thunder goal. 22 fouls were called by the head referee and eight yellow cards were dished out in a feisty affair in Chicago.

Harrison Lee and Pryse Anderson were the danger men for Wheaton's attack tonight, as the former led the team with three shots and assisted Anderson's goal, while the latter put both of his attempts on goal and scored the game winner. Mason Louth grabbed the equalizer with his lone shot attempt of the contest, and Brock Seneff tallied a shot on goal which served as a pseudo-assist for Louth's strike. Kyle Johnson also contributed one effort on frame in Wheaton's victory.

After earning a dramatic upset win in the city, the Thunder return home for their regular season finale on Wednesday night. Wheaton plays host to Millikin, and the team will be hoping to defeat the Big Blue and for Elmhurst to do them a favor in Kenosha in order to clinch the second seed in the conference tournament and a first round bye.