Wheaton, Ill. -- Looking to bounce back from a 3-1 loss to Wisconsin-Platteville on the opening night of the 2023 season, the Wheaton men's soccer team hosted Principia College this evening for their second match in as many days. It was smooth sailing for the Thunder in Saturday's contest, as the Bob Baptista Invitational hosts ended the weekend event with a comprehensive 3-0 victory in front of a sizable Joe Bean Stadium crowd. Kyle Johnson delivered the game's opening goal to give Wheaton a halftime lead before Pryse Anderson netted a second half brace to put the result beyond doubt. The Thunder are 1-1 to begin the season and will hope to build momentum moving forward after ending the first weekend on a high note.

The hosts needed only nine minutes to tally the first goal of the game, and Johnson's header was the first recorded shot of the contest for either team. Brock Seneff (pictured below) delivered a pinpoint cross to the back post to earn Wheaton's first assist of the campaign, and an unmarked Johnson leapt up to direct the ball into the back of the next from six yards out. Remarkably, this proved to be the only shot on target in the first half, as Wheaton controlled proceedings and exerted plenty of offensive pressure on the Principia back line but couldn't tally a second goal before the intermission. 

The Panthers did not register a shot on frame themselves until the 58th minute, and by that point the Thunder were already up by two, as Anderson opened his account for the season following a smooth link-up in transition with Johnson. The junior attacker sat one defender down inside the box before calmly skating around the goalkeeper to bury Wheaton's second score of the night. He then doubled up in unusual fashion in the 75th minute when the majority of the players on the field thought that the ball had gone out of play on the sideline. But the linesman on that side of the pitch never raised his flag to signal a throw-in, so Anderson continued dribbling as play was allowed to continue. Beating the out-rushing Panthers goalkeeper who made a despairing, last-ditch effort to save his attempt, Anderson once again finished coolly from an acute angle to earn his second of the match and send a bemused Bean Stadium crowd into celebrations having wrapped up the victory for the hosts.

Principia finished the match with six total shots and two attempts on target but never truly troubled Mason Escalante and the Thunder back line. Wheaton out-shot their visitors on and off target by a margin of four, while earning two corner kicks to Principia's one and enjoying 60% possession across 90 minutes of play. Johnson and Anderson were the two stat-stuffers for the home side this evening, but Seneff's assist and defensive play and a lively Jack Kern cameo that nearly resulted in a first collegiate goal also merit mention.

The Wheaton men will look to stay in the win column as they hit the road for the first time in 2023 next week. First up is a Wednesday afternoon contest at Lake Forest before a trip to Milwaukee to take on MSOE next Saturday.