BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's soccer team rolled Wheaton College, 5-0, Saturday afternoon, Oct. 1 at Neis Field. With their fourth straight shutout, the Titans improved to 5-1-2 on the season and 3-0 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. The Thunder dropped to 1-6-2 overall and 0-1 in the league with the blanking.

The win marked IWU's first shutout of Wheaton since defeating the Thunder, 1-0, Oct. 17, 2015, and gave the Green and White its first win over its league foe since 2016. Additionally, it was the most lopsided victory against WC since the Titans took down the Thunder, 5-0, Sept. 29, 2004.

The Titans made history in the victory over the Thunder as fifth-year senior Caelyn Steffens (Normal, Ill.-Normal Community) recorded the fifth hat trick of her career. The three-goal performance gave IWU its third in as many games, marking the first time Illinois Wesleyan has recorded a hat trick in three straight contests in program history. 

Defensively, sophomore Kayla Borg (McHenry, Ill.-Cary Grove) made four saves as she ran her shutout streak to 441 minutes. 

IWU broke through for a goal in the 20th minute as fifth-year senior Madison Fischer (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) played a ball through to Steffens. Left one-on-one with the Wheaton keeper, Steffens put a shot into the back of the net to give IWU a one-goal lead.

Leading 1-nil out of the half, Illinois Wesleyan erupted for three goals in less than two minutes of game time to take control, 4-0. Fifth-year senior Rachel White (Naperville, Ill.-Waubonsie Valley) sent a ball down the line, where senior Lauren Shanks (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) raced past the WC defense before doubling the Titans' lead, 2-0, just three minutes into the half. 

Just one minute later, Shanks and sophomore Liza Matimore (Gurnee, Ill.-Warren Township) setup Steffens for her second of the afternoon, before Matimore notched her sixth goal of the season on a pass from freshman Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic). Matimore's score came 48 seconds after Steffens' strike and pushed the Green and White ahead, 4-nil.

With the IWU back line holding strong, Wheaton recorded just seven shots with four on target. The Thunder appeared poised to break the shutout in the 70th minute, but Borg made a leaping save to hold the 4-0 score.

Steffens capped off her hat trick with a goal in the 85th minute, recording her 10th goal of the season, as Illinois Wesleyan rolled to a 5-0 victory.

The Titans remain at home Wednesday, Oct. 5, for a midweek battle with Augustana College. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Neis Field.