River Forest, Ill. -- A challenging stretch of four consecutive non-conference road matches in a span of eight days is now complete for the Wheaton women's soccer team, after the Thunder faced off against Dominican University this afternoon. A competitive matchup between the suburban sides saw the hosting Stars score twice in the second half and hold on to their lead to eventually claim a 3-2 win. Today's game was only the third-ever meeting between Wheaton and Dominican in women's soccer, and the home side has won all three fixtures to date. The Thunder will finally return to Bean Stadium for their next match on Wednesday night.
The even nature of today's contest is displayed in the full time statistical breakdown. Dominican attempted eight more shots than their visitors, but Wheaton had a superior proportion of accuracy with their finishing, putting nine efforts on target to their hosts' eight and drawing seven saves from the opposition goalkeeper. The Stars produced seven corner kick opportunities in the game while Wheaton took four corners, and the balance of possession was a relatively even 54-46% tilt in the home side's favor.
Emily Setran scored both goals for the Thunder this afternoon from the only two shot attempts she took in her 90 minutes on the field. She was matched on two efforts on goal by
Mia Blair, while
Grace Crowder led all Wheaton players with three shots on target today.
Lily Lindquist and
Abi Edwards also registered one attempt on frame in Saturday's match.
Elizabeth Netz made five saves in the Wheaton goal.
The visitors earned the first corner kick and the first shot on goal of the opening half, but Dominican found the breakthrough just shy of the 15-minute mark. Wheaton had to be patient with their attacking opportunities, and Crowder and Blair nearly drew the guests level with efforts on frame in the following minutes. The Thunder finally found their answer three minutes before halftime when Setran received a pass by
Katherine Ashley following a corner kick and planted her shot in the back of the net to tie the score at 1-1.
The Stars began the second period with great intent and fired off five looks at goal, fashioned out two corner kicks, and hit the post within the first 12 minutes of the restart. This offensive pressure finally paid off with a second go-ahead goal in the 57th minute. Wheaton almost tied the game again immediately thereafter, with Lindquist and Edwards forcing two saves in quick succession. But Dominican doubled their lead on 63 minutes via an effective sequence of passes and took a big step towards earning a victory in front of their Homecoming weekend crowd. Setran tallied her second goal of the day and third of the season just five minutes later, as the Thunder refused to back down without a fight. The visitors won the ball back quickly after the ensuing kick-off, and Blair once again came close to tying the match if not for some alert goalkeeping by the Stars' shot-stopper. Wheaton's last attempt on goal came with 13 minutes remaining when Crowder drew another stop, and the Thunder had one corner kick look with five minutes to play. But Dominican fended off these chances and held on for an exciting 3-2 win.
After a taxing run of road contests, the Thunder can look forward to the friendly confines of Joe Bean Stadium again next week. But the level of opposition will not get any lower for Wheaton in their next match. The sixth-ranked team in the country, the University of Chicago Maroons, come to visit for another non-conference meeting on Wednesday, with kick-off set for 7 PM in Wheaton.
