Wheaton College men's soccer upset top-seeded North Central College in a penalty shootout Wednesday, Nov. 4, to reach the CCIW Championship game.

The fourth-seeded Thunder and the top-seeded Cardinals played to a 1-1 draw through extra time in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament semifinal in Naperville before Wheaton won the shootout. The result sends the program to its first CCIW title game since 2021, according to Wheaton College Athletics.

The shootout score was reported differently by the two programs involved. Wheaton Athletics listed the result as 4-2 in penalty kicks. North Park University's game recap recorded it as 5-3. The Wheaton Athletics article carried an editor's note that the story would be updated.

Either way, the Thunder walked off winners. It was the program's first penalty shootout victory since the 2013 conference tournament, Wheaton Athletics said.

North Central entered the match as the regular-season champion with a 12-2-3 record. Wheaton carried a 6-9-3 mark into the postseason. The Thunder earned the right to host a CCIW quarterfinal at Joe Bean Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 31, where they routed Carroll University 5-1 behind a dominant second half.

In that quarterfinal, senior Jack Kern scored the equalizer in the 56th minute off a feed from junior Craig Rusin. Two minutes later, Rusin lofted the ball into the box, where senior Luke Vander Kolk headed it to sophomore Reuben Bos for the tap-in goal. The Thunder then caught fire starting in the 81st minute, scoring three goals in three and a half minutes. Vander Kolk, freshman Ciaran Byrne and sophomore Sam Brown all found the net during the burst.

The semifinal win sets up a championship showdown at North Park University on Saturday, Nov. 7. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Holmgren Athletic Complex in Chicago, according to both the Wheaton and North Park athletics departments. North Park, ranked No. 21 nationally, beat sixth-seeded Augustana 1-0 in the other semifinal on a Bastian Eikeland penalty kick in the 89th minute. The Vikings improved to 13-1-4 and are unbeaten in their last 17 matches.