Wheaton, Ill. -- The Thunder women's soccer team took to the pitch at Joe Bean Stadium for the second time this week on Saturday afternoon, as Wheaton welcomed fourth-ranked University of Chicago to town for their annual meeting. The Maroons scored two first-half goals today and successfully limited their hosts' attacking threat en route to a 3-0 victory that improves their season record to 6-0. Wheaton dips to 1-5-1 on the year after its penultimate non-conference fixture before the start of CCIW play next weekend.
Chicago came into Saturday's match already owning a 3-0 win over a CCIW team this fall and averaging nearly 23 shot attempts per game with 17 goals to their credit. The highly-ranked squad's strength on both sides of the ball was evident this afternoon, as the Windy City visitors out-shot Wheaton, 26-5, put eight attempts on target, saw two-thirds of the possession, and logged a fourth-consecutive shutout. The Maroons tallied 10 corner kicks to the Thunder's two.
Lydia Martin had a strong day in goal for Wheaton, tallying five saves and keeping her side in the contest at various points across the 90 minutes.
Early attacking momentum for UChicago paid off in the ninth minute when some crafty footwork on the left edge of the box led to a dangerous delivery that was dispatched into the top left corner from a pinpoint header. Wheaton held its own in the subsequent stretch of the first half and nearly made it to the intermission with a one-goal deficit to try to overturn. The Maroons established daylight on the scoreboard just over a minute before halftime, however, thanks to a well-executed corner kick routine.
A relatively sleepy start to the second half saw few chances at either end, but the visitors notched their third and final goal in the 60th minute from another quality dribbling assist that teed up a clinical finish into the upper corner. The Thunder had moments of strong defensive cohesion on Saturday, and
Calah Strong drew a save from the opposition goalkeeper 19 minutes from time as Wheaton finally found space to operate within the Maroons' well-drilled set-up. But the top-five team put in another impressive performance in all three thirds to seal a third-consecutive road win.
Next week brings two tests away from home for the Thunder, as Wheaton travels to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Wednesday night before visiting North Park in Saturday's conference-opener.
