Izzy Jones nets hat trick in draw with Wheaton

Decatur, IL — Millikin University women's soccer played their second Collegiate Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match at home versus the Thunder of Wheaton College. With back-and-forth action, the contest resulted in a 3-3 draw.

Wheaton struck first with a double-assisted goal to create an opening against the Big Blue goalkeeper 23 minutes into the first half. As the only goal scored in the first 45 minutes, the Thunder went up 1-0 to start the second.

Millikin's Izzy Jones equalized the game at 49:33 with an assist from Addison Weed as she launched the ball over and past the deep Wheaton defense.

To score the second goal for the Big Blue 12 minutes later, Weed found Jones once again for a long onside goal from 20 yards out after pulling the Wheaton goalkeeper out of range.

For a three-peat, Caty Schmidt and Morgan Gaudy found Jones to score her third goal of the game, extending the lead to 3-1 Millikin. This puts Jones at 13 goals on the season, putting her in the lead for the CCIW conference and in the top 10 in the NCAA for goals scored.

The Thunder did not let up. Wheaton's offense became more aggressive in the last 15 minutes of regulation with eight shot attempts. At 82 minutes, WC scored their second goal to reduce the Millikin lead to 3-2.

With one minute remaining in the second half, Wheaton was given a penalty kick. Taking a shot at the lower left corner, the Thunder converted to tie it 3-3.

Ricocheting the ball back and forth, no team was able to reclaim the lead. "We showed good fight, we just need to put it all together for 90 minutes," says head coach Ian Doherty. This is back-to-back ties for Millikin in conference play with opponents scoring in crunch time.

The Big Blue are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Carroll University for another conference contest, facing the Pioneers with first whistle at 1 p.m., also streaming on the CCIW Network.