Box Score WHEATON, ILL. -- Two thunderous pile drivers on either side of the half by
Leif Carlson and
Nate Waters were not enough for the Principia panthers to overcome a strong Wheaton side on Saturday night in Wheaton, IL. Wheaton took charge of the game early capitalizing on a miscue on the wall to allow a soft goal in the fifth minute of play. That effort was followed shortly with a rising unchallenged header for a 2-0 lead.
The Panthers however were resilient and had some decent moments of build up play. As fortune would have it, a broken up play fell on Carlson's path in the 43
rd minute and he hit a wonder strike from over 30 yards that thundered past the keeper silencing the crowd just before the half. The momentum definitely swung the Panthers' way and they did well to capitalize on it in the second half with Waters carrying the ball past two defenders before unleashing a pile driver that knuckled past the keeper to notch the game up 2-2 in the 50th minute.
Despite the great effort put forth by the Panthers, it was not to be as Wheaton responded five minutes later with a deflected shot that found the back of the net before putting the game out of reach with a 25 yarder spiller in front of goal that was met by an on rushing Josh Clark to seal a hat trick on the night. Certainly a much steely performance from the Panthers with the back four of
John Gotwals,
Christian Thomas,
Andrew Rohrer and
Alejandro Ramirez-Jasso playing much better as a unit while Waters and Leif kept us in the game with their disruptive work in the middle of the park. The Panthers now get ready for a home opener on Tuesday night against their third CCIW opponent Millikin University at 7pm in search of the first win of the season.
