Wheaton, Ill. -- After opening its 2024 home slate and the annual Bob Baptista Invitational with a convincing win over Loras College on Friday, the Thunder men's soccer team returned to Joe Bean Stadium tonight to face the Bethel University Royals in the final match of the two-day event. Wheaton looked to be on its way to a second victory of the weekend after taking the lead just three minutes in, but the visiting Royals scored a goal in either half and withstood a late Thunder charge to hold on for an impressive 2-1 road win. Pryse Anderson netted his second goal in as many games in Saturday's contest, and Mason Escalante saved a second-half penalty kick in the eventful encounter that concluded the 25th edition of the Baptista Invitational.

Bethel began the match on the front foot and quickly fired off three attempts at goal while also earning a corner kick in the first two minutes of play. But the first shot on target came at the other end and was clinically dispatched by Anderson. With only three minutes on the clock, the hosts won a free kick in the defensive half and Wesley Seneff lofted the ball up towards Anderson, who brought it down and maneuvered his way around a pair of Bethel defenders. The senior striker then turned at the top left corner of the box and whipped a shot into the bottom right post that squirmed through the Royals' goalkeeper's hands and pushed Wheaton into an early lead. This score gave the Thunder the start they were looking for in front of a partisan crowd, but the Minnesota visitors did well to limit Wheaton's offensive production in the remainder of the first half. Mason Louth clipped the outside of the post on a free kick strike, and Timmy Jones forced a save roughly seven minutes before halftime, but apart from these two attempts, the invitational hosts did not have good looks at Bethel's goal and the visitors found their equalizer in the 22nd minute via a slick passing move and close-range finish.

At halftime, a special recognition ceremony was held for returning members of Wheaton's 1984 NCAA Division III National Championship team, who are celebrating the 40th anniversary of their national title-winning season. In all, 15 player alumni returned to Bean Stadium on Saturday, and they were joined by legendary head coach and stadium namesake Joe Bean and his former assistant Richard Erickson (pictured right). 

The second half of Saturday's match began cautiously with only three total shots attempted in the ten minutes after the intermission and neither shot-stopper called upon to make a save. But the Royals broke the deadlock and completed their comeback on 58 minutes in similar fashion to their first goal, as a sharp passing sequence and alert movement in the box led to a cross from the left wing being poked home from close range. This setback seemed to wake up the home side and raised the energy levels of the game, as Wheaton chased an equalizing goal and Bethel was forced to increase its defensive intensity. Louth again came close to scoring ten minutes after Bethel's go-ahead goal but was denied by the goalkeeper. Seneff also saw an effort on goal turned away before John Hearn would have leveled up the score at 2-2 on 79 minutes if not for a stunning clearance on the goal line by a Bethel defender when his keeper was beaten.

Another pivotal moment in the clash arrived with eight minutes left on the scoreboard when Bethel was awarded a fortuitous penalty kick. The veteran Escalante reached into his bag of tricks to throw off the Royals penalty taker, and after hyping up the home crowd to create more noise, the Santa Cruz shot-stopper dove down to his right and made an excellent save to prevent Bethel from doubling the lead and kept Wheaton in the contest (pictured below). The Thunder sought to capitalize on this momentum swing and pushed forward in the final minutes, winning two more corner kicks and putting Bethel's goal under pressure. But the visitors held firm and stubbornly refused to allow the competition hosts to have the last laugh on the night.
 
There were 33 total shot attempts in Saturday's meeting, with Wheaton accounting for 14 tries. Bethel placed seven of their efforts on target, while the Thunder had five looks on goal. Wheaton earned a lofty total of 11 corner kicks and posted a 56-44% possession tilt across the 90 minutes of action. Six yellow cards were brandished by the head referee in a chippy encounter, with four of the cautions going to Royals players.

Escalante was one of the standout players on the night for the hosts, making five saves in goal including his penalty rejection and an impressive quick-reflex dive in the first half. Anderson grabbed his second goal of 2024 from his only shot of the evening, and he was joined on one shot on target by four teammates: Louth, Hearn, Jones, and Wesley Seneff, who also picked up his first assist for the Thunder on Anderson's score.

After a lively home-opening weekend, the Thunder men's team will get ready for its trip to the West Coast next week. Wheaton heads to California for two non-conference road games and will play at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Thursday night before facing Chapman University next Saturday.