Lake Forest, Ill. -- The Wheaton men's soccer team left the comfortable confines of Joe Bean Stadium for the first time this season on Wednesday afternoon to visit Lake Forest College for a non-conference matchup. Just as they have each of the last 16 times the two sides have faced off, the Thunder emerged victorious this evening to improve to 2-1 on the season. Kyle Johnson and Pryse Anderson were the names on the scoresheet for Wheaton for the second match in a row, and another clean sheet from Mason Escalante sealed the 2-0 final score.

The Thunder registered the first shot on target of the contest when Caden Yamada's effort was repelled by the LFC goalkeeper nine minutes after kick off. But the Foresters applied their heaviest sequence of pressure seven minutes later, as Wheaton was forced to make three saves in a five-minute span and Escalante (pictured below) was kept busy in goal. After a lively start by both teams, the rest of the first half was a relatively calm affair with no more shots on target coming from either side and both defenses doing their jobs well.

The second half continued in this same fashion, and even with plenty of personnel changes coming off of either team's bench, it appeared as though the midweek matchup might be heading for a scoreless draw. But the veteran combination of Jack Jacquet and Pryse Anderson had other ideas, with the senior midfielder finding his junior attacker who buried his attempt in the upper left side of the net to earn the breakthrough. This marked the third goal of the season in as many games for Anderson, who was responsible for a brace in Wheaton's weekend win over Principia College.

With 16 minutes left to play, the away side earned a corner kick and shortly thereafter, Grant Roney picked out Kyle Johnson, who planted his effort in a similar place as Anderson to register his second of the season and second of the night for the Thunder.

After the one-two punch applied by Wheaton's in-form attacking combo, the result was virtually secure, and both sides posted only one more shot on target in the final minutes. 

Lake Forest got more efforts at goal off on Wednesday than their guests, but Wheaton was more accurate, putting four of their eight shots on frame and scoring twice. The Thunder also earned three more corner kicks than the Foresters and enjoyed a slim possession advantage across the 90 minutes at 54-46%. This evening's contest was a chippy one, especially from the home side, as the two teams were called for a total of 26 fouls and the hosts were shown four yellow cards to Wheaton's three.

Johnson led the Thunder attack with four shots and two attempts on target in the game. Anderson scored from his lone attempt at goal, continuing his efficient form to begin the year. Jacquet and Roney's assists this evening were their first for the season. Escalante tallied three saves in the visitors' goal to earn a second-consecutive shutout.

Wheaton will hope to pick up a second win away from home on Saturday evening when they visit MSOE for another non-conference test. Kick off is scheduled for 6 PM in Milwaukee.