Oberlin, Ohio -- The Thunder women's soccer team had to be patient in its pursuit of a first win in the 2023 season, but when it arrived, it did so in impressive fashion. Wheaton traveled east for a first-ever meeting with Oberlin College to continue their non-conference slate, and a four-goal haul in the first half of Saturday's contest was enough for the visitors to tally their opening victory of the year. Wheaton's record now stands at 1-4-3 as conference play approaches.

Despite the final score of today's match, Wheaton did not begin the game how it would have hoped, conceding the opening goal after 11 minutes. But the Thunder needed only five minutes after falling behind to draw level again, with a smooth back-to-front team move culminating in a pass from Audrey Sexson to tee up Katherine Ashley. The junior forward netted in her second-straight match to bring the visitors level. Three minutes later, Wheaton seized control of proceedings when Sexson went from provider to scorer following a throw-in deep in Oberlin territory. The senior midfielder collected the ball and deftly danced past a pair of Yeowomen defenders before slipping her shot underneath the opposition goalkeeper to complete the turnaround for the guests.

Not satisfied with a narrow one-goal advantage, the Thunder maintained their offensive pressure with Morgan Beamer hitting the post and Ashley coming close to her second goal in the following exchanges. The lead was eventually doubled on 24 minutes when a scrambled clearance attempt by the hosts on a Wheaton corner kick helped the ball fall into Ashley's path, and she wasted no time in dispatching it into the goal to double her tally.

Sensing a chance to put the result beyond doubt before the halftime whistle even blew, Wheaton continued to push numbers forward and largely restricted Oberlin to their own half of the field. With two and a half minutes left in the first frame, another Thunder corner resulted in Mia Blair scoring her first goal of the season with a confident hit near the top of the box to extend Wheaton's lead even further.

Oberlin pulled a goal back 20 minutes into the second period and enjoyed considerably more attacking opportunities as Wheaton retreated deeper and defended their healthy lead. But the Thunder defense did enough to see out the game without a major comeback scare, and the visitors got to celebrate their first victory of the campaign. 

The box score stats show a relatively even affair, despite Wheaton's clinical finishing in the first half. The Thunder registered fewer shot attempts overall but put seven on target in the 90 minutes compared to six for Oberlin. Both teams earned five corner kicks and three yellow cards were handed out in total. Wheaton forced three saves from the Yeowomen's first-half goalkeeper.

Myah Schoolman made four saves on the day, having to be particularly alert in the second half as Oberlin sought to find a way back into the game. Katherine Ashley led the Wheaton attack once again, posting a game-high four shot attempts, putting three of those efforts on frame, and scoring a brace. Audrey Sexson scored from her only shot of the contest and also earned an assist, while Mia Blair put two attempts on goal and scored the final goal of the day for Wheaton. Morgan Beamer had a notable offensive performance on Saturday, registering a shot on target, hitting the woodwork, and providing one assist.

The Wheaton women's team's non-conference schedule will conclude with a Wednesday night home match against UW-Whitewater. The Thunder and the Warhawks are set to kick off at 7 PM at Joe Bean Stadium. Wheaton will then open its CCIW slate against Illinois Wesleyan a week from today as part of Homecoming weekend on campus.