Thunder to play for another national championship

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The setup for the game was obvious - Wheaton College's electric offense would be facing the impregnable Williams College defense.

The potent offense came out on top as Wheaton women's soccer defeated Williams 3-1 in the NCAA Division III national semifinals on Friday. The Thunder improved to 22-3-2 and will play for their third straight national championship Saturday. The Ephs ended their season at 19-1-1.

Williams wasted no time getting on the offensive. In the game's first two minutes, Wheaton goalkeeper Ingrid Erickson (Wheaton Academy) made two clutch saves in traffic in front of the box.

It didn't take long for the Thunder to get on the scoreboard. After a long ball got sent to the top of the box, leading scorer Taryne Lee (Wheaton Academy) corralled the loose ball and sent a right-footed shot inside the left post at 5:55 into the match. The unassisted score was Lee's 30th on the season.

The Ephs kept creating opportunities and held a 14-5 shot advantage at the break. But the Wheaton defense stood strong and didn't let any balls score. Erickson made another clutch save with 30 seconds left in the half to preserve the 1-0 lead at halftime.

After a Williams shot hit the crossbar with 39 minutes left in the game, the momentum swung back to Wheaton in the second half. With 37 minutes remaining, Kari Klynstra hit a slow roller from the near post to the far post. The goalkeeper missed the ball and the Thunder found itself with a 2-0 lead.

Williams was still dangerous offensively, and the Ephs finally got on the scoreboard with 30:42 left as Gabrielle Woodson knocked in a rebound to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The Thunder dictated the final 20 minutes of the game on offense and kept Williams on its heels. Maria Della Torre netted the clincher with a perfect left-footer that went over the goalkeeper's head with 6:06 left in the game.