Wheaton, Ill. -- Following a hard-fought and important road victory at Carthage on Saturday, the Wheaton men's soccer team returned home for the first part of their back-to-back billing at Bean Stadium this week. The Thunder played host to the Augustana Vikings on Wednesday evening as they looked to maintain their perch atop the CCIW standings. Four different Wheaton players got on the scoresheet tonight, and the hosts enjoyed one of their most comfortable wins of the season in claiming their tenth victory of 2023. With their conference record now standing at an impressive 5-0-1 mark, the Thunder stretched their unbeaten run to seven-consecutive matches with tonight's win and are assured of a top-three finish in the CCIW table.

Wednesday's contest played out true to form for both teams, as the conference-leaders overpowered the last-placed side and registered a smooth home win that underlined Wheaton's strong run of recent form. Even with a couple of personnel changes in the Thunder defense, the visiting Vikings only managed two shots in the first half, and goalkeeper Mason Escalante's only touches on the ball in the opening 45 minutes came with his feet. Wheaton needed 19 minutes to find the breakthrough, and it arrived when Mason Louth put together a sharp run down the right wing and beat a pair of Augie defenders on the dribble before floating a delicious ball into the box. Nati Hamilton ran onto the cross and steered it home from close range off the inside of the post to give Wheaton the lead with his second goal of the campaign. Eight minutes later, some neat build-up play between Noah Penner and Grant Roney in the same area of the field allowed the latter to deliver another dangerous cross into the area. Kyle Johnson managed to get a slight touch on the ball with his head at the near post, and Zakhar Zapolskyy was on hand to head home the resulting bounce for his first score of the season. 

The Thunder went into the locker room with a 2-0 halftime lead, but this was quickly increased to a margin of three when Harrison Lee drove home his strike from the center of the box following a free kick that was unsuccessfully cleared by the Augustana defense. The Vikings never looked likely to threaten Wheaton's advantage, but Lee's second tally of the year effectively wrapped up the three points for the hosts. Less than two minutes later, Lee turned provider off of a corner kick as his cross was headed home by Andrew Heeringa for his first collegiate goal. The sophomore defender, who was brought into the starting lineup tonight, rose highest above the crowd near the penalty spot and thumped his header off of the angle of the post and crossbar to increase Wheaton's lead to four goals. The visitors tallied their only shot on target of the night soon afterwards, but the Thunder defense made sure that chances were few and far between for their guests in a comprehensive performance. 

Wheaton out-shot Augustana by a 20-7 margin on Wednesday and put eight of their attempts on frame. The Thunder also generated six more corner kicks than their opponents at a 9-3 tilt and enjoyed a noteworthy 65-35% possession advantage.

Jack Krahel played the final 20 minutes in goal tonight, making his first appearance of the season. He and Escalante combined for only one save in a quiet goalkeeping outing, with the latter shot-stopper posting his fifth clean sheet of the campaign. Eight different players accounted for each of Wheaton's eight shots on target this evening. Mason Louth's assist was his fifth in 2023, a new joint-team-high total. Kyle Johnson, Harrison Lee, and Grant Roney were all also credited with assists in the win, and Hamilton, Heeringa, Lee, and Zapolskyy each scored from their only shots on target on Wednesday, continuing the Thunder's habit of clinical chance-conversion.

The Wheaton men will play their final home match of the regular season on Saturday, and the stakes are high for the Senior Night matchup. Third-place North Park comes to town, and Wheaton knows that victory will guarantee a top-two finish in the conference standings and the right to host a CCIW Tournament semifinal for the second-straight year. Kick-off between the Thunder and the Vikings is set for 7 PM at Joe Bean Stadium.