Naperville, Ill. -- After not playing last Saturday as part of the conference's bye-week rotation, the Wheaton men's soccer team returned to action tonight at North Central College with a chance to clinch the CCIW regular season title. The Thunder came into Wednesday's regular season finale perched atop the conference standings, but a defeat coupled with a North Park victory in its match at Carthage College would have seen the Vikings overhaul the Thunder to earn the title. Wheaton slipped to a 2-0 loss against a resolute Cardinals side in Naperville tonight, but fortunately for the Thunder, this result did not cost them the regular season trophy, as Carthage and North Park drew 1-1 in Kenosha, keeping Wheaton in first place in the table. The Thunder's title extends the program's record of the most regular season championship wins in CCIW history and assures the team of the #1 seed in the upcoming CCIW Tournament.

The Thunder have earned the program's 21st regular season title thanks to a 6-2 mark in conference play, with the team's total of 18 points from eight games narrowly beating out second-placed North Park's tally of 17 for the year. This championship extends Wheaton's comfortable record of the most regular season titles in CCIW history since the conference began awarding championships in men's soccer in 1988. North Park University is second all-time in regular season championship wins with seven. This campaign's title is the first for the Thunder program since 2015 and the first under head coach Steve McCrath, who has guided Wheaton to a top-two finish in the CCIW regular season standings in each of his three seasons in charge.

Wednesday's contest was a difficult one for the Thunder, as the team had to play a motivated North Central side in what is likely to be its last home game of the year and keep its focus on the field without getting distracted by events in Kenosha. The visitors posted the first shot on target in the match in the 15th minute, but the Cardinals took the lead seven minutes later through a powerful finish. North Central had kept three clean sheets in conference play this fall coming into tonight's fixture, and its stingy defense blanketed the Wheaton attack in the remainder of the first half, not allowing a single effort on frame after taking a 1-0 advantage.

Regardless of the status of North Park's match against Carthage, the Thunder were determined to get a positive result in tonight's game and came out stronger in the second half, earning a pair of corner kicks in the opening minutes and giving up only a single shot on target for the hosts before the second goal. Wheaton directed two efforts on frame in the 69th and 76th minutes, as the Thunder dialed up their offensive pressure and searched for a conference-clinching equalizer. Kyle Johnson then came close with four minutes remaining by striking the left post of North Central's goal with a powerful snapshot. But the Cardinals sealed the win with just 1:20 left to play with another impressive solo effort from distance.

The home side put six of its 14 attempts on frame this evening, compared to three of Wheaton's ten shots. The Thunder carved out four corner kicks to North Central's three and finished the regular season having earned nearly 30 more corner kick opportunities than any other side in the league. Fouls were evenly split 11-11 in tonight's matchup, but Wheaton was shown three yellow card cautions to NCC's one. Pryse Anderson, Noah Penner, and Grant Roney contributed the Thunder's three shots on goal this evening, and Mason Escalante made four saves in the 90 minutes of play.

A 2-0 defeat may not have been what the Wheaton men's squad had in mind for its regular season finale, especially considering what was at stake. But the Thunder were able to breathe a sigh of relief tonight and then celebrate an impressive accomplishment thanks to a late Carthage equalizer that denied North Park the chance to claim its own regular season title. In the end, Wheaton's six CCIW victories and memorable 1-0 win over the runner-up Vikings in early October made the difference in a hard-fought regular season title race.

The 2024 CCIW Men's Soccer Tournament will begin on Saturday with a quarterfinal round involving four teams, but Wheaton has earned a first-round bye in the competition and will enter the tournament at the semifinal stage. The Thunder are set to host a CCIW Semifinal at Joe Bean Stadium for the third-consecutive season on Wednesday, November 6th. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 PM, and Wheaton will take on the winner of Saturday's quarterfinal match between Millikin and North Central that is set for noon in Decatur. The CCIW Tournament landing page and schedule can be viewed here.