Wheaton, Ill. -- After back-to-back road contests against local rivals North Central and Elmhurst, the Wheaton men's soccer team returned to Joe Bean Stadium on Wednesday night to take on the visiting Carroll Pioneers. Amidst rainy and wet conditions, the Thunder scored three second-half goals to earn a comprehensive win and improve to 3-0-1 in CCIW play. With the conference regular season schedule now halfway complete, Wheaton joins North Park atop the CCIW standings. The Thunder earned their eighth victory of the campaign tonight, already equaling last season's win total.

The Wheaton men's soccer program has never lost to tonight's opponents, and this year's team maintained that record with a classy second-half display after a competitive opening 45 minutes. The hosts' best chance to open the scoring in the first 20 minutes came when Pryse Anderson maneuvered his way into space on the left side of the box and drove his shot against the Carroll crossbar. A cagey first half did not see many clear-cut opportunities in front of goal for either side, but the Thunder managed to break the deadlock on 26 minutes when Mason Louth played a perfectly-weighted through-ball to Anderson in the center of the field. The in-form junior attacker timed his run well and found himself in a 1v1 situation with the Pioneer goalkeeper. Keeping a cool head, Anderson rolled it past the out-rushing shot-stopper to notch his team-leading 11th goal of the season and extended his scoring run to three matches. The closest either team came to scoring again before halftime took place in the 36th minute when Wheaton keeper Mason Escalante dove full-stretch to deny a powerful long-range shot into the top corner by tipping it onto the outside of his post. Apart from this high-quality stop, chances were few and far between for the guests thanks to an alert performance by the Thunder's defensive unit.

Carroll earned a corner kick two minutes into the second half, but one minute later the ball was in the back of the net at the other end of the field, and their deficit was doubled via an unfortunate own goal. Some good wing play by Nati Hamilton on the left flank produced a cross into the box for Kyle Johnson to direct on goal, and while the sophomore striker did not make perfect contact with the ball, his touch took it onto the leg of an unsuspecting Pioneer defender. This stroke of good fortune proved to be a game-changing moment, as Wheaton would go on to score twice more in the following eight minutes to seal the victory. Johnson got his time to shine in front of goal just two minutes later, when Timmy Jones slipped a delicious pass between a pair of Carroll defenders, and Johnson bent his run into the ball's path before finishing past the keeper in a solo battle, much like Anderson's opener. This slick team move gave Wheaton a firm grasp on the game, and the result was put beyond doubt on 56 minutes thanks to some persistent play by Grant Roney. The junior hounded the ball down inside the Pioneers' box, and when the pressured defender only managed to clear the ball against Roney's chest, he wasted no time in bringing it under control, dancing past a pair of opposition players, and clinically passing it into the bottom corner. This score put the seal on an impressive blink-and-you'll-miss-it attacking stretch from the home side, and before Carroll had time to steady the ship, the damage had been done.

The Pioneers put together a solid sequence of play with 11 minutes remaining to spoil Wheaton's desired clean sheet, and the visitors performed reasonably well outside of the start to the second half. But the Thunder had too much firepower on the night and claimed a deserved three points to continue their strong run of form.

Both teams attempted 14 shots this evening, but Wheaton was clinical in front of goal, scoring three times from five efforts on target along with the decisive own goal. The Thunder edged the possession count at 52-48%, while the visitors created five more corner kick situations than their hosts. A chippy affair played on wet turf resulted in 24 total fouls called and three yellow card bookings issued. 

Five different Wheaton players each tallied a single effort on frame, with Anderson, Johnson, and Roney earning goalscorer status in the win. Mason Louth and Timmy Jones picked up their third and fifth assists of the season, respectively. Escalante made three saves in the Thunder net and got to enjoy a quiet evening apart from his show-stopping save in the first half to preserve Wheaton's 1-0 advantage.

The Thunder will look to keep their five-game unbeaten run alive when they head to Kenosha for their next match to face the other Wisconsin-based CCIW opponent, Carthage College. Kick off is scheduled for 4 PM on Saturday afternoon.