Wheaton, Ill. -- The Thunder men's soccer team took an important step towards its pursuit of a first CCIW regular season title since 2015 on Saturday by moving into the top spot in the conference standings, but with a crowded chasing pack of sides just behind Wheaton in the table, the team knew it would have to keep winning to remain in pole position. The Thunder did just that on Wednesday night, coming back from a goal down to defeat a determined Carroll Pioneers team by a score of 2-1 to seal its fourth-consecutive victory. Wheaton's CCIW record now stands at 6-1, and tonight's win marked its tenth of the year overall, but the most important result of the home victory is that the Thunder are now guaranteed to finish in the top two of the conference standings and have therefore booked a place in the semifinal round of the upcoming CCIW Tournament. Wheaton has one more regular season match to play next Wednesday night before returning to Joe Bean Stadium the following Wednesday to host a tournament semifinal for the third-straight year.

Carroll came into tonight's clash with postseason aspirations of its own, and the match began in the worst possible fashion for Wheaton with the second-placed Pioneers snatching the lead with only a single minute of the game gone. The visitors earned an early corner kick set piece, and despite clearing the initial delivery out of the box, the Thunder failed to stop a follow-up effort from falling to the feet of one of Carroll's best attackers, who graciously accepted the opportunity and steered it in the net to stun the hosts. Wheaton responded well to this setback and put two efforts on frame in the following four and a half minutes, but it was not until the 15th minute that the score was evened up. A long pass from the Thunder back line was lofted up in the direction of Pryse Anderson, who bided his time and was in the perfect position to pounce when two Pioneer defenders got their wires crossed and gave the ball away to the Wheaton striker. Anderson then displayed his textbook dribbling power and coolness in front of goal, as he held off a recovering defender and slipped his shot past the Carroll goalkeeper at the near post to restore parity (VIDEO).

The remainder of the first half saw scattered chances for either side, as both teams showed interest in claiming the lead but also understood the risk of throwing too many players forward in attack given the stakes of the contest. Wheaton twice hit the crossbar, first through Garrett Belcher then via Nick Rodriguez, and Carroll drew a pair of quality saves from Mason Escalante in the Thunder goal, but the deadlock held and the teams entered the halftime locker room knotted up at 1-1.

The Pioneers began the second period on the front foot and posted three shot attempts and two corner kicks in the first five minutes after the break. The home side struggled to get any offensive traction and needed until the 72nd minute to register its first effort at goal of the second half. But Anderson and CCIW offensive player of the week Kyle Johnson re-entered the game off the bench midway through the period, and this sparked the Wheaton attack into gear. The crispness of the hosts' passes increased and the pace of play became sharper, while Johnson twice came close to giving the Thunder their first lead of the night within the last ten minutes of the game. Carroll defended well in the second half and was just beginning to think about securing a valuable point on the road when Wheaton finally found a way through and broke Pioneer hearts with a late winning goal. With three and a half minutes left on the clock, Johnson executed a well-timed run in an attempt to latch onto a header into the Pioneer box, and while he did not apply a shooting touch to the ball, his presence prevented the opposition keeper from securing it cleanly. Anderson was on hand to collect the loose ball, and despite needing a couple of touches to dance away from the Carroll shot-stopper, got his effort off in time and again showcased his natural eye for goal with a dainty chipped finish to the back post that put Wheaton ahead at 2-1 (VIDEO). 
This was Anderson's ninth goal of the campaign, drawing him level with his strike partner Johnson for most on the team and most in the CCIW this year. The senior's brace and four-point haul on Wednesday also took him into first place for total points among all conference players in 2024 with 22 to his name. The Fort Worth, Texas native has developed a habit of scoring key goals for Wheaton, with his winner tonight marking his fourth walk-off effort of the season, the most in the CCIW.

The Wisconsin side did not accept defeat without a late fightback attempt and forced a save in the closing seconds of the match while also earning a pair of corner kicks. But the decisive moment had already arrived, and the Thunder did just enough to maintain their winning run and secure an important victory in their regular season home finale.

The full match statistics were as closely balanced as the final score in Wednesday's encounter, with Carroll posting 14 shots to Wheaton's 12, but the Thunder put half of their efforts on target and limited the Pioneers to four on frame. The home side just edged the possession battle at 51-49%, while tonight's match saw a rare case of Wheaton's opponent generating more corner kick opportunities than the Thunder with seven for Carroll and three for Wheaton. The fouls were evenly awarded across 90 minutes with 12 whistles given against either side, and the Pioneers received the game's only yellow card.

Anderson was characteristically clinical in front of goal for Wheaton tonight, scoring on his only two shots of the contest and leading the team with a pair of attempts on goal. Timmy Jones, Mason Louth, Wesley Seneff, and Luke Vander Kolk contributed the other four efforts on target for the Thunder on Wednesday. Escalante only had to make two saves for Wheaton, and the senior skipper has been in the net for all ten of the team's victories this fall.

Thanks to tonight's hard-fought win, Wheaton can celebrate the achievement of clinching a top-two finish in the conference standings and a first round bye in the CCIW Tournament, continuing head coach Steve McCrath's streak of managing this feat in all three seasons at the helm of the program. But Wheaton's goal of winning the regular season title is not yet complete. The Thunder travel to North Central College next Wednesday night with a chance to clinch the trophy outright. That may happen before then, however, as second-placed North Park heads to Naperville on Saturday to take on the Cardinals. The Vikings are the only side that can still match or surpass Wheaton's points tally in the standings, but if they fail to beat North Central this weekend, the outright title and the number one seed in the conference tournament will belong to the Thunder.