WHEATON, Ill. – The Wheaton College men's soccer team shook off a first-half deficit and exploded with a flurry of goals in the second half to rout Carroll University by a 5-1 margin in the CCIW Tournament Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.
The No. 4-seed Thunder (6-9-3 record) advance to the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament Semifinals, where they will take on No. 1-seed North Central College (12-2-3 record). That contest will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. in Naperville.
Wheaton controlled play throughout the game, but after 45 minutes, they did not have anything to show for it. In fact, it was Carroll (5-13-1 record) who drew first blood in the 20th minute. The visitors centered a powerful cross to the top of the 18-yard box, where Obada Altahat received the ball and buried his strike.
The Thunder had their chances during the first half, firing off 11 total shots. Two attempts were saved and four others were blocked by the Pioneers' defense. As the halftime horn sounded, Carroll was still ahead 1-0.
After the break, Wheaton came out and imposed their will on the Joe Bean Stadium turf. The equalizer arrived at the 56-minute mark. Junior Craig Rusin was looking for a scoring opportunity and laid the ball off inside the goalie box for senior Jack Kern to pot the goal. (VIDEO)
Just two minutes later, the hosts took the lead for good. Rusin lofted the ball into the box looking for senior Luke Vander Kolk, who promptly headed the ball straight to sophomore Reuben Bos for the tap-in goal. (VIDEO)
The status quo was maintained until the 81-minute mark. Wheaton then caught fire and scored three times in three-and-a-half minutes. Vander Kolk tallied his team-leading ninth goal of the season on a one-touch finish off a double assist by Bos and sophomore Noah Luther. (VIDEO) Less than a minute later, Bos set up another goal, this time provided by freshman Ciaran Byrne with a clinical finish into the bottom corner. (VIDEO) Sophomore Sam Brown then wrapped up the scoring binge with a shot into the upper 90 in the 85th minute, assisted by Byrne. (VIDEO)
The final box score saw the Thunder dominate across the board. The home side held significant advantages in shots (23-6), corner kicks (8-3) and ball possession (55 percent to 45 percent). Rusin fired off a game-high six shots, junior Cooper Falling tallied four attempts, and Vander Kolk and Bos contributed three shots apiece.
Freshman goalkeeper Oli Piasecki (1-0 record) picked up his first career win, making one save with one goal allowed.
