TWO TIES LEAVE PLAYOFF RACE UP FOR GRABS

(Editor’s Note: This fall, the women’s soccer updates will be written in first-person form, as the coach, Barry McNamara, is also the editor of Scots Scoop.)

If I was handicapping the Midwest Conference women’s soccer playoff race, I’d look at our program as the "wild card" or "X factor." Some of the perennial powers are sure to be among the four schools that reach the postseason, and there are other teams who have nearly been eliminated. But what will Monmouth do?

It’s a good question, and it’s still going to take some time to sort things out after a pair of ties over the weekend against St. Norbert and Lawrence.

A year ago, St. Norbert handed us our worst defeat of the season, although a series of bad breaks certainly didn’t help our cause. This year, the breaks went our way, and included a Green Knight goal that was waved off, a penalty kick that was awarded to us and an injury that knocked one of St. Norbert’s best defenders from the game.

I was especially pleased by the penalty kick, which came in the 20th minute. Without being asked, sophomore Lauren Vana (Darien, Ill./Downers South) took responsibility for the kick and calmly knocked it home to tie the match at 1-1. Vana then took a beautiful free kick 12 minutes into the second half, finding freshman Brittney Parker (Waukegan, Ill./Warren) open at the far post. Brittney’s first-touch goal gave us a 2-1 lead and, after two St. Norbert goals, freshman Megan Meeke (Elmhurst, Ill./York) came up big to conclude an excellent offensive sequence that started with a strong run and nice pass from classmate Hillary Broms (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods). That made the score 3-3 with 15:46 left in regulation, and that was the final score.

St. Norbert is an explosive team, so even though we allowed three goals, I was very pleased with our how defense played. That certainly included Vana, Brittney and Hillary, and freshman goalkeeper Sarah Wintersteen (Bloomington, Ill./University) also made several big plays, including a point-blank save in the final minutes of the second overtime.

On Sunday, we hoped that our clear edge in possession and shots on goal would allow us to beat Lawrence somehow, some way, but in the end, the 1-1 tie proved better than the alternative.

The Vikings had the wind in the first half and had some good chances to score, so we were pleased to keep the game 0-0 at halftime. Over the final 65 minutes, we outshot them 22-3, but we found ourselves behind 1-0 with the second half winding down. Off a corner kick, we were finally able to net the equalizer, with sophomore Emily Caron (Romeoville, Ill./Romeoville) assisting Meeke’s sixth goal of the year.

The two ties keep us very much alive in the race to be one of the four playoffs teams. We’ll host two of the contenders Oct. 20-21 at Peacock Park when Beloit and Lake Forest come to town.

Our JV was also in action during the past week, playing in Peoria on Thursday against a club team from Bradley University. We surrendered a goal in each half to fall 2-0. Late in the game, a great free kick by sophomore Sally Hayes (Mt. Pleasant, Iowa/Mt. Pleasant) nearly led to a goal by senior Jenny Tunberg (Moline, Ill./Moline). Tunberg’s shot hit the crossbar, and freshman Katie Zeter’s rebound attempt was cleared off the line by Bradley.

The JV will be in action Thursday at St. Ambrose and will also play most of the game when our alumni return for a 10 a.m. match on Saturday.

SCOTS BLANKED BY ST. NORBERT, LAWRENCE

Men’s soccer coach George Perry called last weekend’s 2-0 and 3-0 losses to St. Norbert and Lawrence "a tale of two games."

Similarly, the visiting coaches had different perspectives.

St. Norbert coach Dale Rhodes could be heard chastising his team after a scoreless first half Saturday. The next day, according to Perry, Lawrence coach Blake Johnson said his team had not played a better first half all season.

Johnson was pleased right from the get-go, when his team scored inside the first minute. The Vikings would add first-half scores on an own goal and a nice through pass en route to a 3-0 halftime lead, which was also the final score.

"I did not feel anyone had a particularly good game (for us)," said Perry. "Even though Lawrence played well, I thought more of that was our poor play and concentration. I have to step up more in training, and we will be working on that area. We defended much better in the second half but we’re still looking for more consistent play offensively."

Lawrence outshot Monmouth 19-6, while St. Norbert posted a 22-6 differential in its 2-0 win on Saturday. But Perry said that had one of those six shots been a few inches lower, the Green Knights might not have left town with a win.

"If Joe Howell’s shot had gone in and not hit the upper 90, a 1-1 game would have been very different," he said.

Instead, the shot clanged off the post, and St. Norbert was able to score the clinching goal with eight minutes remaining.

"I was pleased, not with the result, but the effort and intensity on Saturday," added Perry. "I thought we did well after the 15-20-minute mark and certainly settled in better defensively. In particular, Bryan Jackson (Princeton, Ill./Princeton) and Owen Robinson (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bourbonnais) made some very timely tackles and saves. I am hoping we will get another chance to play them this year. I can’t say I thought that after last year’s game."

Perry was referring to a 4-0 loss in De Pere, Wis., when St. Norbert posted a 39-1 edge in shots. And by getting another chance to play the Knights, he was referring to the Scots’ playoff hopes this season. Monmouth can get right back in the race with a victory Wednesday in a make-up game at Grinnell. The Scots are currently 1-2 in the MWC and 3-5-2 overall.

SPIKERS FALL IN HEARTBREAKER

The volleyball team’s path to the Midwest Conference playoffs got a little more difficult on Tuesday, when the Scots dropped a 17-30, 30-23, 33-31, 29-31, 15-10 decision at Grinnell. It was Monmouth’s first five-set match of the year, and the loss dropped the Scots’ MWC record to 2-3.

The Scots need to finish in the top six to qualify for the postseason, and they are currently in fourth place, tied with Illinois College. Monmouth will visit IC on Oct. 23, and other pivotal matches include Homecoming weekend dates with Beloit and Lake Forest. The Bucs and Foresters are both below Monmouth in the standings, but they’ve played just one and three conference matches, respectively.

Hitting percentages told part of the story at Grinnell. The Scots looked sharp early, putting down 16 kills at a .300 clip to win the first set easily. But Monmouth would hit no higher than .208 in any of the next four sets, and Grinnell’s third-set victory proved to be crucial.

Another factor was the Pioneers’ Claire Reeder, who Grinnell went to 55 times. She converted 28 of those sets into kills and hit .418 for the match.

Junior Samantha Robinson (Milan, Ill./Rockridge) led the Scots with 17 kills and five blocks, and classmate Tanesha Hughes (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) added 15 kills. Freshman Alyson Schroeter (Woodruff, Wis./Lakeland) was also on, slamming 12 kills and hitting .357. Junior Crystal Myers (Byron, Ill./Byron) added 37 digs and two aces and senior Colleen Wilkin (Fulton, Ill./Fulton) had 34 assists.

Up next for Monmouth, now 11-6 on the year, is a trip to Crestview, Ky., over Fall Break to compete at the Thomas More Tournament.

WEGNER STEPS UP VS. KNOX

With every match Monmouth’s young tennis team gets to play, a little more knowledge and wisdom about college-level competition is gained.

That certainly describes the experience of Fighting Scots freshman Kim Wegner (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) on Monday, as she was able to reverse an earlier defeat against Knox. Wegner survived a tough first set to defeat the Prairie Fire’s Jessica Wise 7-5, 6-0 in No. 2 singles. Wise had beaten her 6-3, 6-1 on Sept. 19.

Wegner’s win came during a 6-3 Monmouth triumph. Beating their Knox opponents for the second time in less than three weeks were juniors Cassie Frantz (Macomb, Ill./Macomb) and Brittany Donnelly (Metamora, Ill./Metamora), who both won in singles and teamed to prevail at No. 1 doubles, and classmate Maddy Ethington (Orland Hills, Ill./Andrew). The No. 2 doubles team of Wegner and classmate Emily Isaacs (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) also won again.

Monmouth’s team record improved to 7-5 with the win, while Donnelly is now 12-6 in singles and 11-7 with Frantz in doubles.

Over the weekend, Monmouth competed at the Western Illinois University Invitational. Frantz had the best showing, defeating her first two opponents from Lewis and Truman State.

Up next for the Scots is the Midwest Conference Championships, which will be played Saturday and Sunday in Madison, Wis.

WATER POLO SPLITS AGAIN

The College Water Polo Association’s seven-team Heartland Division has three strong teams and three that aren’t quite at that level. The division’s seventh team is Monmouth, and the Fighting Scots showed they are much closer to the former category than the latter.

Playing last weekend at a Heartland Division event in Northfield, Minn., Monmouth defeated host Carleton 8-6 on Saturday and also knocked off St. Mary’s 18-9. In its final match Saturday, Monmouth lost a close 10-8 match against eventual division champion Grinnell. Monmouth returned to the pool Sunday and rallied against St. John’s before falling 11-8.

The Scots’ 4-4 record put them right in the middle of the final Heartland Division standings but, as swim team coach Keith Crawford pointed out, Monmouth didn’t exactly have the best draw over the two weekends of competition. Each team played everybody once, but they had to meet two teams twice, and the schools Monmouth drew to play a second time were St. John’s, which tied for second, and Grinnell.

"I felt like we played a lot better than we had the week before and that we were more organized," said Crawford. "We were more competitive in the matches against Grinnell and St. John’s. We’re working to get better at some of the technical things, like the different strokes that are needed in water polo as compared to swimming."

Crawford also reported that the Scots were led in scoring at the event by senior Kurt Niemeier (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg), sophomore Joe Moran (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) and freshman Tom Pedersen (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick). Sophomore Matt Travnik (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) and freshman Chris McLloyd (Country Club Hills, Ill./Hillcrest) were solid in goal and junior Eric Pavlacka (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) and freshman Jeremiah O’Steen (McHenry, Ill./West) also played well.

Monmouth will compete at the Heartland Division Championship on Oct. 20-21 in Winona, Minn. The Scots’ first match is at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against St. Mary’s.

CARTER PROOF THAT SPEED THRILLS

(Editor’s Note: This is the third of five profiles of former Monmouth College athletes who will be inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame on Oct. 27 during Homecoming Weekend festivities.)

John Carter might have displayed his considerable athletic talents at a major university if not for his small stature. He was just 5-foot-5 and 145 pounds, but the "The Flea" proved to be as elusive as his nickname suggested, averaging a whopping 7.5 yards per carry in a career that saw him score 14 touchdowns.

Simply put, no Monmouth athlete was faster than Carter in the pre-metric era. In Midwest Conference track, he won the 100-yard dash in 1971 and took both the 100- and 220-yard dashes at the 1973 meet. His school-record time of 9.7 seconds in the 100-yard dash will never be broken, nor will his indoor 60-yard dash record of 6.3 seconds.