Wheaton, Ill. -- It's not every day that the same player scores three goals in one match. In fact, it had not happened for a Wheaton men's soccer player in over two years. But Wednesday night saw this rarity take place at Joe Bean Stadium, as the Thunder defeated the visiting Dubuque Spartans by three goals to one thanks to Kyle Johnson's first collegiate hat-trick. The sophomore striker bagged two goals in the first half to give the hosts a halftime cushion before completing his trifecta late on to calm the nerves after Dubuque had pulled a goal back. The first hat-trick of the Steve McCrath era sees the Thunder improve to 3-2 on the season with tonight's victory.

The home side earned a deserved victory this evening having been the team on top for most of the match. But the Spartans started and ended proceedings brightly apart from Johnson's late clincher, a product of Dubuque having to commit more numbers forward in search of an equalizer. The Thunder edged their guests in total shot attempts, 13-12, but steered six of their efforts on frame to just three on target for Dubuque. The hosts earned a clearer advantage in corner kicks, generating nine set piece opportunities to the Spartans' four. 21 fouls were called in a contest that often verged on over-physicality, and Dubuque were shown two yellow cards for aggressive challenges.

Mason Escalante had a relatively quiet night in goal for the home team but was called on to make two saves in the second half as Wheaton fought to preserve the win. Kyle Johnson had a superbly productive outing in the final third, putting four of his five shots on goal and scoring three times to overtake teammate Pryse Anderson atop the season scoring charts. Brock Seneff and Jack Jacquet were also busy on the attacking end, each registering an assist and a shot on target. Andrew Heeringa and Timmy Jones received assisting credit in Wednesday's win, as well.

The Spartans came out firing this evening, blasting three efforts towards the Wheaton goal in the opening three minutes. But Jacquet helped the hosts settle down by registering the game's first attempt on target to test Dubuque's goalkeeper. After a sleepy 20-minute period that followed, the Thunder snatched the lead when Heeringa earned his first career assist via an excellently-timed long ball over the top for Johnson to run onto. The second-year attacker gathered the pass in stride and wisely settled himself before slotting past the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation on the right side of the box.

Before Dubuque could mount any sort of offensive pressure to level the score at 1-1, Johnson made it 2-0 on 37 minutes with a piece of quick thinking. Brock Seneff took a throw-in for the hosts and picked out Johnson's run behind the Spartan back line, and the sophomore caught his markers off guard by quickly lifting the ball over the out-rushing goalkeeper. His second tidy finish was soon followed by another shot on target, and this exchange ensured that Wheaton closed out the first half in the ascendency.

The Spartans again logged the first two shot attempts of the half following the intermission, and there was a noticeable difference in the visitors' intensity coming out of the break. The Thunder had the ball in the back of the net again 20 minutes after halftime, but it was called back for a marginal offside decision. With Wheaton struggling to find consistent offensive rhythm in the second period, Dubuque saw their pressure pay off in the 75th minute when a redirected clearance fell to the feet of a waiting midfielder who steered his effort home sharply from the top of the box. Suddenly, the Spartans were back in the contest and making the home side sweat.

But the Thunder showed calmness in defense and weathered the following minutes with minimal scares. This game management yielded a handsome reward with six minutes left, as a smooth midfield link-up between Timmy Jones and Jack Jacquet led to the latter springing a perfectly-weighted through-ball into Johnson's feet. The young forward once again found himself eyeball to eyeball with the Spartan goalkeeper, but he did not let the weight of the moment throw off his composure and buried his third goal of the contest into the bottom corner to seal the win. This finish made Johnson the first Wheaton men's player to earn a hat-trick since former standout Silas Galvao netted three at Marian University in September of 2021. The Bean Stadium crowd gave the sophomore a standing ovation to mark the occasion, and his Thunder teammates could finally relax and celebrate their victory following a nervy stretch in the second half.

Moving from one Dubuque, Iowa-based opponent to another, the Wheaton men will travel west on Saturday to take on the Loras College Duhawks. Kick off is scheduled for 7:30 PM at the Rock Bowl.