Wheaton, Ill. -- The Wheaton men's soccer team did not get the result it was hoping for in its season-opening match at Dubuque last weekend, but it bounced back in the best possible way on Friday night, steamrolling the Spartans' neighboring rivals, the Loras College Duhawks, to begin the 2024 Bob Baptista Invitational in dominant fashion. The Thunder scored twice in either half of tonight's contest and pitched an impressive shutout en route to a smooth first victory of the season in front of a sizable Bean Stadium crowd. Wheaton's record is now 1-1 on the young season, and the team will take the field at home again on Saturday night.

Tonight's opponents like to play a high-tempo, chance-creating style, but Wheaton outmuscled Loras at its own game. The Thunder got off 23 shot attempts to the Duhawks' ten and put twice as many efforts on target as the visitors managed. Wheaton also enjoyed a 56-44% possession split, including seeing 60% of the ball in the first half, while both teams took five corner kicks. The home side played a clean game, being whistled for only six fouls, and Loras received the lone yellow card handed out tonight. Friday's win completed a home-and-away double for the Thunder over the Duhawks, after Wheaton secured a 2-0 win against Loras in Dubuque last September.

An All-Region performer in 2023, forward Kyle Johnson got his campaign well and truly started on Friday, scoring a goal, notching an assist, and leading Wheaton with two shots on frame while proving impossible to contain for the Duhawks' defense. Timmy Jones, Jack Kern, and Cooper Falling each earned an assist, as well, with the freshman Falling contributing the first of his collegiate career. The team's leading scorer last season, Pryse Anderson, opened his 2024 account with the first strike of the night for the Thunder, and Mason Louth put the cherry on top by scoring the fourth and final goal with six minutes left in the game. Sam Grotelueschen scored his first in Orange and Blue with an outrageous strike from near the halfway line at the end of the first half. The reigning CCIW Goalkeeper of the Year, Mason Escalante, made four saves and commanded his box with authority in picking up his first clean sheet of the new season.

The Duhawks earned a corner kick opportunity just one minute into the contest, and both teams started the game with a clear intent to attack, resulting in shot attempts on either side and a fast pace of play. The scoring was opened right around the 15-minute mark when Brock Seneff launched a long throw-in into the box, and Johnson won his header to direct the ball towards goal. It fell to the top man for the job, and Anderson was all too happy to steer it into the net from poacher's range to send the Wheaton faithful into celebratory cheers (VIDEO). The remainder of the first half was a tactical chess match, as Loras recalibrated after falling behind and the hosts slowed down the tempo of the game with a lead to protect. The Thunder did not allow another shot on target before the break, and it looked as though Wheaton would enjoy only a narrow 1-0 lead at the intermission. But one minute before the horn sounded, Grotelueschen pounced on a Loras turnover and heaved the ball from roughly ten yards in front of the halfway line all the way over the head of the unsuspecting Duhawks goalkeeper straight into the right side of the net (VIDEO). It was a remarkable one-touch finish on the spin, and the junior defender almost paid a price for his surprising effort, going down under a challenge from a nearby opposition player. But he bounced right back to his feet and set off wild celebrations among his teammates and the stunned Bean Stadium crowd, who got to enjoy the Thunder taking a 2-0 lead into the break in an unexpected manner.

Not surrendering after this surprise concession, the visitors from Iowa began the second period with a renewed intensity and drew two saves from Escalante and won a corner kick in the first 11 minutes of the half. But Wheaton grabbed a third goal against the run of play at the 59-minute mark, and Johnson's close-range finish effectively wrapped up the win for the hosts. Jones lofted a well-weighted pass from the midfield into the path of Falling on the right edge of the box, and the rookie took it to the byline before steering his pass back across goal. The junior striker Johnson, anticipating the angle of the delivery, beat his covering defender to the near post and kneed the ball into the net with his first touch to open his tally in the new season (VIDEO). The Duhawks' last attempt on goal came with 30 minutes left to play, as Wheaton's back line won their aerial duels, covered the space well, and snuffed out any promising looks that the Loras attackers generated. The Thunder did not simply pass the ball around to waste time for their part, and their excellent game management was rewarded in the closing minutes when Louth put away a clinical finish to seal a statement first home win of the year. Kern possessed the ball in a similar area to that of Falling's assist to Johnson, and his ensuing pass to the penalty spot was met by Louth and a Loras defender. The junior midfielder won the individual battle for control of the ball and quickly made room for himself to shoot on his left foot, before planting a quick strike across the keeper's body into the bottom right corner (VIDEO).

This goal accounted for the final scoreline of Friday's matchup, but the game had already been won thanks to Wheaton's determined and organized performance through the first hour of play. The Thunder could finally relax for the closing minutes of the contest and got to soak up the acclaim of the home support while already looking ahead to Saturday's fixture.

After enjoying a best-case scenario home opener, the Thunder men face a short turnaround for their next game and will wrap up the Baptista weekend with a match against the Bethel University Royals at 7 PM on Saturday. Bethel was narrowly beaten, 1-0, by North Carolina Wesleyan University on Friday in the first game of the tournament.