Wheaton, Ill. -- The Wheaton men's soccer team took a brief intermission from conference play on Wednesday night, coming off a 2-0 victory over Elmhurst. The Thunder continued their momentum in tonight's non-conference finale against Kalamazoo College with a 3-0 win brought about by two goals from
Luke Vander Kolk and one from
Caleb Davis with two assists by
Craig Rusin and one for
Cooper Falling and
Jack Jacquet. After consecutive home wins, Wheaton's record now stands at 5-2-3 heading into the bulk of the CCIW schedule.
The first real chance of the game came from an excellent pass from
Mason Louth, who found Falling in the right corner and crossed it in. He was able to pick out
Jack Kern about 15 yards from the goal, but the shot narrowly missed the top right corner.
Wheaton was able to get off to a hot start, posting three shots in the first 12 minutes compared to the Hornets' one. This early advantage was largely due to the Thunder's structure of shutting down transition offense. Often, the Thunder defense would step in before the Hornets' front line could get anything started on Wheaton's side of the pitch.
Falling got himself involved heavily in the 19
th minute. He first had another fantastic cross to Kern, which was pushed away by the keeper but not maintained. Louth gathered it and sent it back to Falling, who managed to get a good shot on goal, but this effort was ultimately swallowed up by the Kalamazoo netminder.
The next 11 minutes were largely a stalemate, with Kalamazoo spending more time in Wheaton's zone but never ultimately making anything out of it. That pattern changed when, coming off a Kalamazoo throw-in, Andrew Heerenga stepped in front and sent the ball up to Vander Kolk, who then played a fantastic through-ball to Kern, with the junior making a move to lose his defender and sending a shot sizzling towards the net. Another good save by Kalamazoo kept the game knotted at zero.
In the 45
th minute, with the ball in the Hornets' territory, Vander Kolk crossed it in, and the ball ricocheted off the top left of the post back to Falling, who was by himself in the center of the box. But the Hornets' keeper positioned himself well and was able to make the save.
The first half ended in a 0-0 deadlock. Wheaton led in the shot department, getting off thirteen attempts to Kalamazoo's six.
Wheaton maintained the pressure in the first nine minutes of the second half, aiming two more shots on goal and a free kick that missed wide left.
The Thunder's first goal started from Kern drawing a foul. A free kick from the left side about 15 yards off the penalty box was sent in by
Craig Rusin (
pictured right). Vander Volk headed it in the bottom right corner past the
Kalamazoo keeper to give the Thunder the lead. (
VIDEO)
This was Vander Kolk's fifth goal in five straight games, making him the first Thunder men's soccer player to achieve this feat since two-time CCIW Player of the Year Marshall Hollingsworth did so in the 2015 season.
The Thunder piled on soon after in the 61
st minute with a move started by Rusin. Rusin, deep in Wheaton territory, found Falling on the run with an excellent long pass over the top. The sophomore, inches from dribbling out of bounds, sent a pass to Vander Kolk which barely snuck by the Kalamazoo keeper, and Vander Kolk tapped it in for his second goal of the game and CCIW-leading ninth of the season to extend Wheaton's lead to 2-0. (
VIDEO)
Wheaton continued to press the action with another shot on goal by
Caleb Ryan after several volleys.
Caleb Davis (
pictured left) then sealed the hosts' victory with a
snipe from beyond the top left corner of the box, assisted by
Jack Jacquet from a corner kick layoff, that curled past the keeper's outstretched arms and hit the twine, giving Wheaton its final 3-0 lead. (
VIDEO)
The home side finished with 24 total shot attempts to the Michigan visitor's eight, with the Thunder putting nine efforts on frame and Kalamazoo getting four on target. Wheaton carved out twice as many corner kicks at a 4-2 split and enjoyed a 55-45% possession edge. The Hornets employed a physical approach on Wednesday and got whistled for 14 fouls and three yellow cards.
Vander Kolk and Davis were responsible for Wheaton's goals, while the assists went to Rusin with two and Falling and Jacquet with one each. Falling recorded two shots on net, and Louth, Rusin, Kern, and Ryan accounted for the Thunder's other efforts on target. Krahel held the Hornets scoreless with four saves to pick up his second-consecutive clean sheet.
After concluding their regular season non-conference slate on a high note, the Thunder will look for a second win in conference play at North Park University on Saturday. The two longtime rivals are set to meet at 7:30 PM in the Windy City this weekend.
