Women are the darkhorse

by Dustin Looney
Courier Staff

Entering their match against Benedictine University, the Monmouth College women's soccer team had played six games, but they had little to show for it.  Their season record was dead even at 3-3.  This, combined with the fact that it was Family Weekend, heightened the Fighting Scots' desire for a home-field victory this past Sunday at Peacock Memorial Athletic Park.

Although the Lady Scots started slowly, they eventually picked up their intensity and scored two goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half.  They added two more goals in the second half on the way to a resounding 4-0 decision over Benedictine.  The Monmouth women dominated the game, taking an impressive 66 shots on goal.  An even more astounding statistic was that their opponent managed only three shots on goal for the entire game.  

Monmouth's goals were scored by Amy Horneck (unassisted), Ashley Kensinger (assisted by Summer Waecker and Jenny Turnberg), Kristen Mertel (assisted by Amy Horneck), and Katie Graham (unassisted).  

Monmouth's goalkeepers, Amanda Havens and Jennifer Scott, shared duties in the net for the shut out victory.

“We had a slow start at the beginning, but toward the end of the first half we started putting the ball in the back of the net, and continued this in the second half," said freshman midfielder, Sarah Kisner.

Kisner was one of three Scots starters who could not play because of injuries.  The other injured starters were Audrey Stoffel and Kathleen Heinrich.  However, Benedictine University was also short-handed and did not have any substitutes on the bench.  As a result the Fighting Scots were able to use every available player off the bench.  A lot of parents were undoubtedly very happy to see their "little girls" get in the game.

The impressive victory was inspired by the unusually large Family-Weekend crowd that witnessed the game.  The Lady Scots broke the .500 mark and improved their season record to 4-3.  The team is currently 1-1 in conference matches, and their goal is to win enough games to end an 11 year playoff drought.  If the showing last Sunday is any indication, the Monmouth women are well on their way.

"We continue to work hard in practice and in the games, because our main goal this season is to make the playoffs," confirmed Kisner.

The Scots look to improve on their winning record when they play a non-conference match at Aurora University on Sept. 28.  Reports are that Aurora has a good team this year, but a tough match against a highly regarded opponent will be good preparation for future conference battles.  The Fighting Scots conclude their season with seven of their last eight matches being all important conference games.