Dubuque, Iowa -- Fresh off of their 3-1 home win over Dubuque on Wednesday, the Wheaton men's soccer team traveled to face the Spartans' city rivals, the Loras College Duhawks, on Saturday night. The hosting Duhawks had yet to taste defeat this season coming into tonight's non-conference affair, but the Thunder played spoiler, scoring either side of halftime and shutting out the Loras attack to earn a notable road victory. Wheaton's win tonight was the program's first-ever positive result against Loras in Dubuque and snapped a six-game losing streak in the series. The Thunder's season record stands at 4-2 after Saturday's victory.

It took 40 minutes for the scoring to be opened in tonight's contest, but both teams started the game with attacking intent. Jack Jacquet registered the match's first shot on target after Loras fired off an attempt one minute after the kick off. Four minutes later, Jacquet tried his luck again and drew another save from the Duhawks' goalkeeper. The remainder of the first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the home side growing into the clash and Wheaton earning their stripes defensively. The Thunder played 15 minutes without generating an attempt at goal, but they broke the deadlock against the run of play through Harrison Lee's first goal of the season. After winning a free kick just outside the Loras penalty area, Mason Louth floated a sideways cross into the box, which Lee controlled and quickly fired into the net from near the penalty spot. The Duhawks sought an immediate riposte to this setback and generated a pair of shots on target and corner kicks but were unable to level the score before the halftime intermission.

The second period got off to a cagey start as neither side was particularly adventurous in their attacking play. Loras nearly found the goal they needed in the 57th minute, drawing a save from Mason Escalante. But the Thunder went right down the field and doubled their lead seconds later when Timmy Jones found Pryse Anderson for his fifth goal of the campaign, drawing him level with strike partner Kyle Johnson atop Wheaton's scoring charts.

There was plenty of time remaining on the clock for the Duhawks to find an avenue back into the contest, but the visitors managed proceedings well and never gave the home side the glimmer of hope they would have received from halving the deficit. It was not until the final ten minutes of the match that Loras mounted a full assault on the Thunder goal, posting seven shot attempts and forcing three saves out of Escalante. But the junior shot-stopper was on form this evening and refused to see his third clean sheet of the year go to waste.

Escalante tallied a season-high nine saves in the win. Caden Yamada and Johnson each contributed a shot on goal for Wheaton in addition to Jacquet's aforementioned pair of efforts on frame. Neither Pryse Anderson nor Harrison Lee clocked 40 minutes of playing time in Saturday's game, but the veteran combo made the most of their substitute roles by netting the decisive goals for the Thunder.

Loras finished the match with a striking 26-11 advantage in total shots, but the hosts were wasteful in front of goal, only managing to put nine attempts on target to Wheaton's seven. The Duhawks earned 12 corner kicks, while Wheaton fashioned seven of their own.

Buoyed by a confidence-building result in Iowa this evening, Wheaton returns home for another intriguing non-conference match next time out. The reigning national champion University of Chicago Maroons will come to Joe Bean Stadium on Tuesday night for a 7 PM kick off.