The Wheaton Thunder, ranked 19th in the latest D3soccer.com poll, scored the go-ahead goal in the 83rd minute to defeat UW-Whitewater 2-1 on Friday at Robert W. Fiskum field in Whitewater.  The Warhawks fall to 4-4-3 on the season while Wheaton improves to 9-2-0.

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If time of possession was a statistic in soccer the UW-W men's team won the battle.  Unfortunately Wheaton was able to score two goals on nine shots while the 'Hawks only found the back of the net once on 22 attempts.

The Thunder went ahead 1-0 in the 18th minute on a goal by Tyler Risma.  Risma was assisted by Luke Partain and Drew Golz.  The goal came on just the second shot of the game for the Thunder.

The remainder of the first half was scoreless but the 'Hawks got off seventeen shots in the period compared to Wheaton's four.

The Warhawks responded with a quick goal in the second half on a free kick set-play taken by Ryan Boyd (Waunakee/Waunakee) who found Steve Nashleanas (Brookfield/East) for his first goal of the season.

Play in the second half was much more equal than in the first half, but the Thunder slipped one past Warhawk goalkeeper Andrew Krueger (New Berlin/Catholic Memorial) in the 83rd minute to take the lead for good.

Both goalkeepers made several key saves to keep the game tight as both played the entire ninety minutes in the cold, rainy weather.

The Warhawks made a strong attempt to score in the waning moments by putting almost all of their players in the box, but were unable to tie the game and force overtime.

UW-W is off until Sunday when they travel to Lake Forest to take on the Foresters.  Lake Forest is currently 4-5-1 this season and 2-2-1 at home.  The 'Hawks next home game is October 9 when they host fellow Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member Finlandia in game beginning at 7 pm at Robert W. Fiskum field.

For additional information, Greg Henschel