Wheaton, Ill. -- In the first edition of the expanded CCIW Tournament, the Wheaton women's soccer team found themselves in the unusual position of hosting the sixth-seeded team in the conference, the Carthage Firebirds, for a tournament quarterfinal on Saturday night. Making things even more out of the ordinary was the fact that the Thunder had already hosted this team just two weeks earlier in the regular season. Just as they did on Senior Night, Wheaton topped Carthage, 1-0, at Joe Bean Stadium to earn a vital win and extend their season for at least one more match.
Audrey Sexson netted her fourth goal of the year in the second half of tonight's contest to give Wheaton the victory.
With tonight's win, the Wheaton women's program extended their winning streak against Carthage to 15 games and maintained their perfect home record against the Firebirds. As a result of their win in this evening's elimination game, the Thunder advance to Wednesday night's semifinal against the second-seeded North Central Cardinals. Kick off for that match is scheduled for 8 PM in Naperville.
Wheaton's last 1-0 win over tonight's opponents was the fourth consecutive clean sheet registered by the Thunder defense, and they returned to a similar stingy style in Saturday's rematch. Carthage managed five shots across the 90 minutes of play while only forcing three saves from All-CCIW First Team goalkeeper
Lauren Ketchum. The Thunder generated 14 attempts on the night and put seven shots on target, six of which were saved by Ketchum's opposite number in the Carthage goal. Wheaton earned five corner kicks and limited the Firebirds to just one of their own. Sexson led the Wheaton attack from a midfield position, firing off a team-high three shot attempts and directing two on frame including her goal.
Sophie Lindquist and
Rebekah Max joined her on two shots put on goal, and
Morgan Beamer, the scorer of Wheaton's winner the last time these two teams met, accounted for the seventh shot on target.
Mia Blair collected the assist on Sexson's strike, a team-best third of the season for Blair.
The first half was a relatively uneventful exchange, as both sides attempted to pinpoint the weakness of the other. Wheaton dominated possession over their counterattack-employing visitors, but the Thunder could not find a route through to goal despite posting more shots and creating a majority of the chances.
Audrey Sexson, named to the All-Conference Second Team this week, needed only four minutes to register the first attempt on target for Wheaton in the second half, and this proved to be a sign of things to come, as the junior found the breakthrough ten minutes later. Blair gathered a Carthage clearance at the top right corner of the box and rolled a central pass to the feet of Sexson, who clinically steered a long-range shot into the upper left corner of the Firebird net. The goal was worthy of match-winner status and a deserved reward for Wheaton's increasing control of the contest. The visitors tallied two attempts on goal in the remainder of regulation, but Ketchum and her defensive unit were up to the task, and Wheaton held on to celebrate a postseason victory in front of a vocal home crowd.
After notching their first win of the CCIW Tournament, the team's attention now turns to their local opponents in another replay from the regular season. Wheaton and North Central drew 0-0 in Naperville on October 5th, and the Thunder will be relying on a similarly strong defensive performance in their attempt to pull the upset on Wednesday night.
