Albion, Mich. -- 24 hours after topping the Kalamazoo Hornets in the first of two non-conference matches in Michigan this weekend, the Wheaton women's soccer team took to the field again to face the Albion College Britons this afternoon. The visitors scored the first goal of Saturday's meeting, but the hosting Britons found the net in both halves to eventually secure a 2-1 win. Wheaton's record is 2-2 on the young season after a pair of home matches and road fixtures. 

The home side drew a save from Elizabeth Netz in the Thunder goal just over a minute into the contest and posted the game's first corner kick, but Wheaton fired back through Mia Blair with their first effort on target, and Blair again put a shot on frame just shy of the 15-minute mark as the visitors increased their offensive pressure. The breakthrough arrived on 18 minutes when Grace Crowder closed down an Albion defender near the penalty box and, having stolen the ball away, steered her shot into the net from a tight angle on the left side for an unassisted opener. Crowder's second goal of the campaign gave the away team a deserved lead, but a penalty kick goal for the Britons leveled the game up at 1-1 just before the 30-minute mark. The rest of the first half was a defensive struggle with only one effort on goal from either side in the last 15 minutes of the period.

Albion completed their turnaround six minutes after halftime with an open play goal, and Wheaton were forced to play from behind for the last 40 minutes of the contest. The Thunder posted three attempts on goal after falling behind and won the same number of corner kicks in a concerted effort to draw level. But the hosts refused to let their advantage slip and defended well enough to hold on for a narrow win at home.

Despite the final outcome, Wheaton had the better of Albion in most of the box score stats. The Thunder attempted ten shots to their hosts' nine and put seven efforts on goal while limiting the Britons to five through the 90 minutes of play. The visitors also forced twice as many saves from the opposition goalkeeper and took four corner kicks to Albion's three. The MIAA side played a physical game, being called for 17 fouls and shown two yellow card cautions from the referee.

Crowder and Blair led the Wheaton offensive effort on Saturday by generating two shots on target each, and the former supplied the Thunder's only goal on the day. Kate Creighton, Marissa Davis, and Lucie Parrish each registered one attempt on frame in the second half. Netz made three saves in the contest and played all 90 minutes in goal for the Thunder.

The Wheaton women's team will head back to the state of Michigan on Tuesday to take on the Hope College Flying Dutch in another non-conference test. Kick-off is scheduled for 3 PM CT, 4 PM ET in Holland.