River Forest, Ill. -- The Thunder women's soccer team took the short drive over to River Forest on Friday afternoon to begin the new season with a nonconference match against Dominican University. The contest marked the third time in the last five years that the Thunder have traveled to the home of the Stars, and Wheaton avenged last September's 3-2 road defeat to Friday's opponents with a 1-0 victory today to begin the 2025 campaign on a winning note.
Olivia Martin opened her collegiate account with the game's only goal in the first half, and freshman goalkeeper
Leah Roe earned a full-match shutout in her first appearance for Wheaton.
The visitors posted the opening shot attempt of the game four minutes in and carved out three corner kicks in the first ten minutes. But the first shot on target for either side did not arrive until Martin's goal at the 16-minute mark.
Cami Tofilon lofted an accurate cross from the left wing into the box, and the sophomore Martin pounced to steer an effort on frame. The Dominican goalkeeper parried this first attempt but was not able to fully clear the danger or gather the ball herself, and Martin's persistence paid off as she fired in the rebound to put Wheaton ahead. The goal was one of the only clear-cut opportunities for either team in the first period, as both sides found it difficult to fully impose their style and take control of proceedings. The Thunder went into the halftime break with their 1-0 lead intact.
Wheaton earned a corner kick three minutes after the restart, but the home side took the first four shots of the second half and brought about Roe's first save of the day on 52 minutes. The Stars would not test the rookie shot-stopper again until 20 minutes later, and the guests saw two efforts on goal turned away within that span. The Thunder did not have much joy in the final third in the last 30 minutes of Friday's contest, but they stifled the Dominican attack at the other end, and Wheaton's impressive defending late in the game was enough to help the team see out a road win and start the year with a good result.
Possession of the ball came out to a perfect 50-50 split in today's curtain-raiser, but the Thunder led the other statistical categories, firing off 15 shots to Dominican's 10 and putting four on target compared to just two for the Stars. Wheaton also enjoyed a decisive eight-two split in corner kicks through the 90 minutes of play.
In addition to her game-deciding goal, Martin led all players with two shots on target this afternoon.
Grace Crowder and
Lily Lindquist also posted one attempt on frame for Wheaton in the win. Roe enjoyed a fairly comfortable collegiate debut in the Thunder net, only needing to make two saves to collect her first clean sheet thanks to the strong work of her defensive teammates ahead of her.
After beginning the year in victorious fashion, Wheaton remains on the road on Saturday to cap off its opening weekend slate. The Thunder will head to another local school, Aurora University, for their next nonconference test. The Spartans and the Thunder are set to face off at 7 PM in Aurora's first match of the new season.
