Wheaton, Ill. -- The Thunder women's soccer team returned to Joe Bean Stadium on Wednesday night for their third home match against an opponent from the WIAC this season. UW-Whitewater were this evening's visitors, and the Warhawks claimed a narrow 3-2 win to drop Wheaton's record to 1-5-3 on the year. Wednesday's contest was the last one before conference play begins this weekend.

The hosts earned a pair of corner kicks in the opening 12 minutes to start the game on a positive note, but neither goalkeeper had much to do in the early exchanges. The visitors snatched the lead against the run of play just shy of 20 minutes in when Wheaton was unable to clear the ball out of its defensive third and a persistent Warhawk attacker kept the play alive to chip the ball in from the center of the box to break the deadlock. Whitewater looked to compound their advantage in the following five minutes with a couple more chances, but the Thunder used a brief stoppage in play to regroup and strike back. Mia Blair collected the ball on the right side of the box and slipped a no-look pass back to midfield partner Emily Setran, who clinically swept the ball into the far side of the net with a stylish first-time finish.

The sophomore's first goal of the season gave the home side a boost, and Wheaton took the game to their northern visitors in the subsequent portion of the first half. But Wisconsin-Whitewater conjured up a smooth team move in the 40th minute to restore their lead via a 1v1 finish from the right side of the box off of a quick counterattack. Blair registered a shot on frame with one minute remaining as Wheaton sought to quickly the game up again, but the Warhawks saw out the first half with their 2-1 lead intact.

Neither team was interested in sitting back and slowing things down in the second half, with Wheaton handling an early spell of pressure by their guests to then post four attempts of their own in quick succession. But the Thunder's task was made even harder on 61 minutes when a Warhawk corner kick was accidentally diverted into Wheaton's net for an own goal that doubled the visitors' lead. From that point on it was one-way traffic, with Whitewater only tallying one more shot on target and having to defend resolutely to withstand wave after wave of Wheaton attacks. The hosts were finally rewarded for their energy with eight minutes remaining in the game when Katherine Ashley made a tenacious play from a corner kick to collect the ball and set it back for Julia Tallungan. The freshman was waiting at the top right side of the box and wasted no time in powering a pile-driver through a crowd of Whitewater defenders to bag her second goal of the season and give the hosts some late hope.

Audrey Sexson clipped the outside of the post on a long-range effort with three minutes left, and Wheaton continued to get numbers forward in search of an equalizer. But the valiant late comeback attempt fell one goal short, and the Warhawks were able to hang on for a road win to round out their non-conference slate.

Both teams posted five shots on target, and the two goalkeepers each made three saves in the game. But Wheaton out-shot their WIAC visitors by a 16-9 tally overall and created five more corner kick opportunities than the Warhawks. The Thunder also earned 57% of the possession in Wednesday's encounter.

Sexson led the team with four shots across the 90 minutes of play, but Julia Tallungan was the most clinical attacker for the Thunder tonight, putting both of her efforts on frame and registering her first home goal for Wheaton. Grace Crowder and Katherine Ashley each fired off three shots, and the latter collected an assist on Wheaton's second goal. Emily Setran scored on her only shot of the contest, while Mia Blair had a productive outing with two attempts, one effort on target, and an assist.

The Wheaton women's team will look to get back to winning ways and start CCIW play on the right foot this Saturday when they welcome reigning conference champions Illinois Wesleyan to town. Kick off is set for 4:30 PM at Bean Stadium as a part of Homecoming weekend on campus.