St. Louis, Mo. -- The Wheaton men's soccer team returned to St. Louis for the first time in five years to renew its non-conference rivalry with Washington University (Mo.) on Saturday night. The hosting Bears overpowered the Thunder by a score of 3-0 to drop Wheaton's season record to 4-4 as CCIW play comes into view.

Wheaton struggled to create clear attacking opportunities around the WashU goal tonight, with the visitors' lone effort on target coming 20 minutes after kick off from a Jack Jacquet attempt. The Bears fired off twice as many shots as their guests and put eight attempts on frame in a lopsided offensive display. WashU broke the deadlock around the 35-minute mark to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. The hosts continued to apply their pressure in the final third after the intermission and eventually bagged two goals in the last 15 minutes of the contest to confirm the non-conference win. 

WashU earned 11 corner kicks across the 90 minutes of play while Wheaton registered five corners. Possession of the ball was relatively even, as the Bears edged the Thunder at 52-48% on Saturday. Each team was called for 11 fouls. Mason Escalante tallied four saves in Wheaton's goal, while Jacquet and Timmy Jones posted a joint team-high two shot attempts for the Thunder.

The Thunder men will look to shake off consecutive three-goal defeats to strong opposition when they conclude their non-conference slate next week. Wheaton is set to host the Trine University Thunder on Wednesday afternoon before welcoming Illinois Wesleyan next Saturday for their CCIW opener on Homecoming weekend.