Rock Island, Ill. -- The Thunder women's soccer team took to the road for the second time in conference play on Saturday afternoon, as Wheaton traveled west to Augustana College. The visitors shrugged off a narrow halftime deficit to eventually secure a 4-1 victory in today's matchup, confirming the Thunder's sixth-consecutive win in Rock Island dating back to 2015. Wheaton's second-half flurry marked the first time since September of 2023 that the program netted four times in a single game and the first conference match in three years in which the squad has scored four goals. Today's result improves Wheaton's overall record to 5-4-4, and the Thunder have a 2-1-1 mark in CCIW play at the halfway point of the conference schedule.
Augustana applied early offensive pressure on the Thunder goal and scored from its second shot of the match just three and a half minutes after kickoff via an excellent chip-shot finish from the left side of the box. But after finding this quick breakthrough, the Vikings retreated into a defensive style that sought to manage Wheaton's increased intensity and only registered two more attempts on target in the remainder of the game. The Thunder's first effort on goal came in the 14th minute when
Calah Strong tested the opposition keeper with a shot off the ground. The visitors earned a majority of the possession and put up nine shots in the first half, but only two of these tries were on frame, and Augie did enough to keep the scoreline at 1-0 heading into halftime.
One week ago in their first conference road test, the Thunder trailed 1-0 at the break against the Vikings of North Park and conceded four times in the second half to suffer a lopsided defeat. But today's fixture saw the reverse take place, as Wheaton exploded for four goals in the second period to secure a deserved victory of its own.
Lauren Walmer nearly tied the scoreline at 1-1 nine minutes after the restart with a shot off the left post, and this proved to be a sign of things to come, as the Thunder equalized nine minutes later to begin the four-goal outburst.
Olivia Martin brought the ball down neatly on the right side of the attacking half and maneuvered past a pair of Vikings defenders to find the freshman Strong at the top of the penalty area. The Wheaton native took a touch to control the ball before unleashing a powerful effort into the top left corner that grazed the post on its way past the sprawling Augie shot-stopper. Strong's first collegiate goal brought her team level and provided an obvious momentum boost to the away side as it sought to turn the match on its head.
Just three minutes after this strike, Wheaton completed the turnaround thanks to another first-time goalscorer,
Cami Tofilon. Another bit of sharp midfield play by Martin saw the ball switched out to the right wing, where Walmer launched a promising first-time cross into the middle of the Vikings' box. Tofilon (
pictured right) judged the flight of the ball perfectly and beat a jumping Augie defender in the air to steer a clinical header
just inside the near post.
Wheaton did not simply sit back and attempt to defend its lead after this goal, and nine minutes after Tofilon's go-ahead finish, the guests doubled their advantage in the 76th.
Lily Lindquist floated a teasing ball from the left flank into the mixer, and while
Grace Crowder initially missed the contact on the cross, she was quick to react when an off-guard Vikings defender accidentally redirected the ball back towards her. The junior forward headed home at the right post to make it 3-1 with her first goal of the campaign.
Five minutes after Crowder's header, Wheaton completed the day's scoring haul in similar fashion, as
Julia Tallungan's initial shot from outside the box was blocked by an Augie player. But the attempted clearance did not travel far, and the spinning ball took a fortuitous bounce back into the path of Tallungan. She wasted no time in matching her fellow junior's finish with a strong header over the out-rushing Vikings goalkeeper to confirm Wheaton's decisive comeback effort. Both teams put one more attempt on target in the closing minutes, but the Thunder had done more than enough to collect a valuable three points on the road.
Wheaton earned advantages across the board in the box score statistics on Saturday, out-shooting Augustana by a 19-8 margin and directing nine efforts on frame compared to the home side's four. The Thunder took six corner kicks while allowing only one for their hosts and posted a 53% share of the game's possession.
Strong led the team with two shots on target this afternoon, while
Leah Harris,
Marissa Davis, and
Liza Timm each registered an attempt on frame in addition to the Thunder goalscorers. Martin and Walmer tallied their second and first assists of the year, respectively, and
Leah Roe made three saves in goal to earn her fifth win of the season.
With half of the CCIW regular season schedule now complete, Wheaton finds itself in a three-team tie for third place in the standings along with the two Wisconsin programs, having played one less match than Carthage and one more than Carroll. The Thunder will visit the Firebirds on Wednesday night for a 7 PM contest in Kenosha.
