Wheaton, Ill. -- Returning to Joe Bean Stadium tonight for its second of three-consecutive CCIW home matches, the Wheaton men's soccer team welcomed Illinois Wesleyan University for a battle of two sides unbeaten in conference play. The Thunder were looking to extend their momentum built up over their five-match winning run and hand a fellow CCIW team its first defeat of the season for the second game running, but the visiting Titans were the side to keep their impressive run of form intact and eventually secured a scrappy 2-0 win to earn a significant road result. Wheaton's season record now sits at 6-5-1 with a 2-1 mark in conference action, while IWU's tally improves to 8-0-2 and 2-0 in CCIW competition.
The box score statistics tell a different story from the final scoreline of this evening's match, as Wheaton out-shot Illinois Wesleyan by a 17-7 margin, enjoyed 58% of the possession across 90 minutes, and took six corner kicks to the visitors' two. But the home side struggled to convert its chances and turn its offensive pressure into quality looks at goal. The Titans applied the clinical finishing touch they required to walk away with the three points and put four of their attempts on target while limiting the Thunder to just three shots on goal with a well-organized defensive effort. Tonight's match was a feisty affair at times and saw 21 fouls called with two yellow cards dished out to either team.
Pryse Anderson was once again the focal point of Wheaton's attack on Wednesday, and the senior put a joint game-high two shots on target, with
Caden Yamada contributing the other effort on goal for Wheaton.
Mason Escalante saw his three-match shutout streak ended in an unfortunate manner and made two saves in the defeat tonight.
The matchup got off to an extremely cagey start, with the two sides only registering a single attempt on frame in the opening 20 minutes. Yamada tested Illinois Wesleyan's keeper with his shot on target on 21 minutes, but this would prove to be the lone effort on goal for the hosts in the first half despite controlling the balance of play and giving few looks away at the other end of the field. The Titans' go-ahead goal in the 37th minute came in fortuitous circumstances when a Wheaton player was whistled for a foul near the top of the Thunder penalty area despite winning the ball with minimal contact on the IWU attacker. But the guests made the most of this break, as CCIW Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week Mush Bakirdan dispatched a perfect free kick into the top right corner of Wheaton's net, leaving his Defensive Player of the Week counterpart with no chance at making a save. The Thunder could count themselves somewhat unlucky to be trailing at the halftime break, but Illinois Wesleyan defended resolutely and blunted the home side's attack to lay the groundwork for its road win.
The second period began in similarly slow fashion, and it was not until the 60th minute that Wheaton had a look at a potential equalizer, with Anderson tallying his first effort on goal. The Titans continued to frustrate their hosts throughout the half and forced the match to be played on their terms, and when Anderson's next attempt on frame was stopped again in the 85th minute, it seemed as though IWU would escape with a single-goal victory. But the scoreline would reach its final reading just seconds later when a loose pass along the Wheaton back line was chased down by an alert Titans attacker and an attempted clearance redirected off of the Wesleyan player's leg to loop all the way over Escalante's head. The senior raced back to his goal line to try to grab the ball, but it bounced off of the crossbar and fell perfectly into the path of the opposing striker, who did well to follow up the initial deflection and tapped in the rebound from close range. Wheaton tried to strike back quickly with a flurry of shot attempts and a corner kick in the last three minutes of the contest, but it was not to be the hosts' night in front of goal, and Illinois Wesleyan grabbed a precious second conference win in unexpected fashion.
After Wednesday's setback, the Thunder men will hope to get back in the win column on Saturday when they close out their three-game home stretch with a Senior Night contest against the Augustana Vikings. Kick-off is scheduled for 5 PM at Bean Stadium with a ceremony to recognize this year's senior players held shortly before the start of the match.
