Wheaton, Ill. -- Following a pair of games in the Windy City last week, the Thunder men's soccer team returned to the suburbs for its first home conference match of the season on Wednesday night. Wheaton welcomed Millikin University to Joe Bean Stadium, and the hosts used a pair of early goals to eventually seal a 3-1 win that saw them get off the mark in CCIW action. The Thunder are now 3-6-1 on the year with a 1-1 record in conference play, while the Big Blue are 5-4-1 and also have a 1-1 mark in league competition.
Wheaton had won all 25 of its previous home matches against Millikin coming into tonight's meeting, and the Orange and Blue extended this perfect record to 26-0 thanks to an impressive attacking display. The Thunder opened the scoring from the first shot of the game less than five minutes in when
Isaac Lucas received the ball on the right wing and fed a pass into the channel for
Ashur Eshw. The senior attacking midfielder delivered a perfectly weighted first-time ball towards the penalty spot into the path of
Luke Vander Kolk, who calmly dispatched it past the sprawling Millikin goalkeeper to open his conference account. (
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The All-Region striker capped off a flurry of subsequent looks at goal for Wheaton four minutes later with a low drive that bounced off of both posts and somehow did not cross the line, keeping the hosts' lead at 1-0. But the Big Blue were not safe for long, as Vander Kolk struck again in the 13th minute to double his team's advantage on the scoreboard. Lucas steered a clever flick-on towards the advancing
Cooper Falling, and the junior served the ball on a plate from the right side of the box for Vander Kolk to blast home from five yards out after finding himself unmarked in front of goal once again. (
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Millikin only managed one shot attempt in the first 22 minutes of Wednesday's matchup, and Wheaton could have been leading by four or five goals by that point if not for some alert goalkeeping and last-ditch defensive interventions by the visitors. But the Big Blue struck on the counterattack with a well-executed passage of play in the 23rd minute to halve their deficit. The Thunder remained in control of the game, however, and drew two saves from the opposition shot-stopper while not allowing any clear opportunities for a possible equalizer before halftime.
The central Illinois visitors finally enjoyed sustained attacking possession early in the second period and tallied a pair of shots and corner kicks to threaten Wheaton's 2-1 lead. But the Thunder managed to flip the momentum back in their favor after a good stop by
Luke McGuire in the 61st minute. Lucas thought he'd scored to make it 3-1 four minutes later, but his shot that was cleared off the goal line and initially given as a goal was overturned by the officials after a lengthy discussion.
Following another sharp save from McGuire and another effort on frame by Vander Kolk, Wheaton got the clinching goal it was seeking 15 minutes before full time.
Garrett Belcher lofted a long clearance up the field, and
Jack Kern gathered the bouncing ball, split two defenders with his first touch, and unleashed a clinical bolt from the right edge of the box into the bottom left corner for his first goal of the season. (
VIDEO)
Now with a two-goal lead to protect, the Thunder were happy to sit back in the last ten minutes and allow Millikin to get numbers forward. McGuire was called upon on two more occasions in the final seconds, but he and the Wheaton back line rose to this challenge and saw out the important victory.
The Thunder out-shot the Big Blue by a healthy 25-16 margin this evening and put twice as many attempts on target at a 12-6 split. Underlining their attacking prowess and control over the game's flow, Wheaton generated 11 corner kicks while conceding five and carved out a 58-42% ball possession advantage across the 90 minutes. Both squads were whistled for seven fouls and received one yellow card caution.
Vander Kolk led all players with season-high totals of eight shots, five attempts on target, and two goals in a headline showing on Wednesday. Fellow goalscorer Kern tallied two shots on frame, and he was joined on this count by Falling who picked up an assist. Wheaton's leading scorer on the year Lucas turned provider with two assists tonight, while Belcher and Eshw contributed one each. McGuire made four pivotal stops in goal to help the Thunder pick up the win.
After splitting its first two CCIW matches, Wheaton will step back out of conference play on Saturday to host #15 Calvin University in a 7 PM contest on Homecoming weekend. The Knights are coached by Wheaton alum Ryan Souders '07, and this weekend's game will feature a 20-year anniversary recognition of the 2006 national runner-up team of which Souders was a member.
