Bloomington, Ill. -- The Wheaton women's soccer team began postseason play on Saturday afternoon by traveling to central Illinois for a CCIW Tournament quarterfinal match. The hosting Illinois Wesleyan University Titans are the fourth seed in this year's conference tournament and Wheaton is the fifth seed, with the two sides drawing 0-0 at Joe Bean Stadium in their regular season matchup last month. Today's game also ended in a tie, but the Thunder triumphed, 4-3, in the resulting penalty kick shootout to advance to Wednesday's semifinal round. Saturday's outcome marked Wheaton's first penalty shootout victory in all competitions since November 2021 and first shootout win in the CCIW Tournament since topping today's opponent in the 2011 Championship match. The spot kick success also extends the program's perfect record of semifinal appearances, with Wheaton having reached at least the semifinal stage of every conference tournament since its inception in 2002.

The Titans were frustrated by Wheaton's defensive solidity and high-quality goalkeeping effort in Saturday's contest, as the hosts out-shot their suburban visitors by a 22-7 margin and put twice as many efforts on target at a 12-6 count. IWU also took five corner kicks to the Thunder's two and carved out a 54-46% possession advantage across the 110 minutes of open play. But Wheaton put in a clean, disciplined performance and shrugged off a late Titans equalizer in regulation to hold its nerve in the shootout and pull the upset to stay alive in the competition.

Leah Roe made a season-high 10 saves in the Thunder goal this afternoon to keep her team in the contest before being replaced by sophomore shot-stopper Elizabeth Netz (pictured right) for the penalty shootout. 
Netz answered the call and came up with two critical stops in the 12-yard face-off series to propel Wheaton into the next round. Olivia Martin, who has stepped up as a key contributor on the offensive end in recent weeks, led the Thunder attacking effort again today with two shots on goal and netted her fourth strike of the season midway through the second half before scoring Wheaton's first penalty in the shootout. First Team All-CCIW honoree Lily Lindquist, Elizabeth Clawson, Calah Strong, and eventual shootout decider Marissa Davis all contributed one attempt on target in Saturday's match.

Illinois Wesleyan came flying out of the gate in the first half and directed two efforts on frame within the opening two minutes to test Roe and the Thunder back line. Wheaton found its footing after this early scare, and the midfield duo of Lindquist and Strong each drew a save from the IWU keeper a few minutes later. The game then settled into a tactical chess match, with neither side taking too many offensive risks and the majority of the first period passing without considerable attacking action. But the Thunder ended the half well, as Davis and Clawson each forced sharp saves from the opposition shot-stopper in the closing minutes to build Wheaton's confidence heading into halftime. 

The home side began the second frame in similar fashion, needing just one minute after the restart to force Roe into an impressive stop. Wheaton struggled to get anything going on the offensive half of the field, and Illinois Wesleyan turned up the pressure on the Thunder goal. But the visitors were rewarded for their stubborn defensive work in the 70th minute when Wheaton drew a free kick inside the attacking half and Strong launched the set piece delivery into the Titans' box. The ball fell to an IWU defender, but before she was able to clear it away from danger, Martin (pictured left) stole it off of her foot and turned in the center of the box to fire home the opening goal into the bottom left corner and stun the Wesleyan defense.

After 160 minutes of scoreless soccer between the two sides this season, the ball finally reached the back of the net, and Martin's goal against the run of play put the Thunder in the driver's seat for a semifinal berth. But the home side had other ideas and finally found the payoff for their attacking prowess 90 seconds from the end of regulation. Following a 20-minute spell of relentless pressure after Wheaton's goal, the Titans seemingly saved their season from a set piece play of their own. IWU floated a free kick from 10 yards outside the front right corner of the box to the back post, and their joint-leading scorer on the season rose highest to head home and send the crowd into raptures. Illinois Wesleyan had one more shot on goal and corner kick opportunity in the final seconds to complete a dramatic turnaround, but Wheaton survived these tests and the game headed into the first of two 10-minute overtime periods.  

Each team registered one attempt on target in the first extra frame, with Martin nearly winning the game for Wheaton with another effort towards the bottom left corner in the 98th minute before the hosts drew a jumping stop from Roe on their next possession. But the first overtime period came and went without a walk-off winner. Illinois Wesleyan posted the only shot of the second overtime segment, and as is often the case in tournament soccer, both sides played conservatively in the final stages with so much at stake and backed themselves to get the job done via penalty kicks.

Head coach Patrick Gilliam then made the call to sub in Netz as Wheaton's penalty kick stopper, and this proved to be a wise decision, with the Michigan native coming up clutch in the shootout. The hosts won the coin toss and elected to kick first. IWU's opening attempt nearly broke Wheaton's way, but the ball ricocheted off of the inside of the left post and snuck in to give the Titans an early advantage. The goalscorer Martin stepped up first for the Thunder and confidently buried her spot kick to level the count at 1-1. Netz then made the first of her two saves with a reaction stop in the middle of the goal to provide Wheaton the opportunity to take the lead. But the visitors' ensuing attempt missed the target and Illinois Wesleyan was let off the hook. The Titans scored their third try to move back in front before Lindquist calmly stroked the ball home to make it 2-2. IWU's next shot was fired directly towards Netz, and the second-year keeper proved her penalty saving credentials once again with a strong hand to turn the ball away. The visitors capitalized on this save through Cami Tofilon, with the rookie displaying a cool head to power Wheaton into a 3-2 lead. Illinois Wesleyan scored the following attempt to stay in the game, but when the responsibility to win the shootout for the Thunder fell to the midfielder Davis, the junior (pictured right) left no doubt with her try from 12 yards and dispatched the kick past the dive of the opposition keeper to seal a dramatic victory for Wheaton. 

As a result of Saturday's thrilling win, the Thunder will return to Naperville just one week after their last visit, as Wheaton advances to face the tournament's top seed and regular season conference champions North Central College in the semifinals. Kick-off between the Thunder and the Cardinals is set for 7 PM on Wednesday, while the other semifinal will happen simultaneously with #6 Elmhurst playing at #2 North Park after the Bluejays also earned a penalty shootout victory following a 1-1 tie of their own at Carthage College tonight.