Elmhurst, Ill. -- The first day of conference play in 2024 finally arrived for the Wheaton men's soccer team on Saturday, as the Thunder made the short trip to face their fellow suburbanites at Elmhurst University. Wheaton scored twice within the first 30 minutes of tonight's game to build an early cushion and managed to see out the contest without conceding to begin their CCIW schedule on a perfect note. Notching their third-consecutive win this evening, the Thunder's season record now stands at 4-4-1 and 1-0 in conference competition.

The visitors threw down the gauntlet early in Saturday's meeting, with Mason Louth and Luke Vander Kolk each putting an attempt on frame within the opening 4:30 minutes to test the Bluejays' goalkeeper right away. This would foreshadow the two goals to come for the Thunder, as the aforementioned players put their names on the scoresheet to lead Wheaton to victory tonight. With just six minutes gone in the opening period, Pryse Anderson used his strength to draw a foul near the right border of Elmhurst's penalty area, and Louth delivered the subsequent free kick into the box for a teammate to get on the end of. An opposition defender managed to get a touch on the service into the box, but this only helped the ball reach the foot of Vander Kolk, who wasted no time in stabbing home a goal from close range at the back post to nudge the Thunder in front (VIDEO).

The Bluejays almost responded well to this early setback with their first effort on goal in the 18th minute, but Mason Escalante was up to the task and kept out the attempt. Ten minutes later, Wheaton went back on the attack and earned a pair of corner kicks in quick succession. The second of these deliveries resulted in the second goal of the match for the visitors, as Brock Seneff's cross was met by Louth, who directed the ball past the Elmhurst shot-stopper for Wheaton's second score from a set piece. The Thunder cooled off offensively in the remainder of the first period but also allowed only one more shot on goal by the hosts and comfortably maintained their 2-0 advantage heading into the halftime break.

Wheaton's defensive solidity and confident play continued after the intermission, with Elmhurst only managing to force two saves from Escalante in the entire second 45. The Thunder had a flurry of scoring opportunities around the 76-minute mark, with Kyle Johnson, Anderson, and Vander Kolk all coming close to extending the guests' advantage. But even without the third score arriving on Saturday night, Wheaton had done enough from their two set piece goals in the first half to claim another road win and put down an early marker in the conference race.

The home side posted more shot attempts than the Thunder this evening, but Wheaton was more accurate with their shooting, putting eight of their 15 tries on frame compared to just four of 18 on target for Elmhurst. The visitors also enjoyed a significant 9-2 disparity in corner kicks and a slender 52-48% possession tilt on Saturday. The whistles did not come at an even proportion from the head official in tonight's meeting, with Wheaton being called for 20 of the game's 28 fouls. But the Bluejays were shown three of the four yellow cards issued in the 90 minutes of play.

Louth was the offensive key to Wheaton's success tonight, assisting one goal and scoring the other, while Vander Kolk contributed the opener and put all four of his shot attempts on target. Seneff earned his second assist of the week for Louth's score, and the striker duo of Anderson and Johnson each chipped in with one effort on frame in Saturday's victory. Escalante produced four saves to earn his second shutout of the season.

Riding a wave of momentum on the back of three straight positive results, the Wheaton men will step back out of the CCIW schedule on Wednesday evening to take on Kalamazoo College in their final non-conference match of the regular season. The Thunder and the Hornets are scheduled to meet at 5 PM Central time, 6 PM local in Michigan next week.