September 10, 1997

MONMOUTH,IL - The Monmouth College men's and women's soccer teams started off their respective seasons on Wednesday night with similar results -- both teams won by a 2-1 score, both victories came on the road and both came against Midwest Conference South Division opponents. The Fighting Scot women won their opener over arch-rival Knox in Galesburg and the men had to go into overtime to escape with the decision at Illinois College in Jacksonville.

The Monmouth women, 3-12-1 a year ago, won their first match ever against the Prairie Fire, who had defeated the Scots by scores of 5-0 and 3-2 in 1996. It was also the first season-opening win in the brief four-year history of the program. The contest is the only time the two squads will meet in the regular season as the Midwest Conference switches to a single round-robin schedule this fall.

Knox grabbed the early lead as Megan Owens scored with just six minutes left in the first period. It stood as the only goal of the half but Monmouth rebounded after the break to score their two decisive goals. Freshman Keri Kling (Harvard,IL/HS) tallied the team's first score of the season to tie the game 26 minutes into the second half at the 71:05 mark on an assist by junior midfielder Malinda Springer (Woodstock,IL/HS). The Scots took the lead ten minutes later as freshman Jessica Adams (Harvard,IL/ HS) took a pass from classmate Kimberly Morris (Crystal Lake,IL/Central) on a middle run and beat the Knox goalie.

Monmouth attempted a team-record 44 shots on goal and held the Fire to only 14 attempts. Sophomore goalkeeper Colleen Shaughnessy (Springfield,IL/Ursuline) played the entire game in the nets for Monmouth and recorded three saves. Monmouth is now 1-0 (1-0 MWC) and Knox is 0-1 (0-1).

The men also trailed 1-0 at the half as IC's Chris Rosenboom connected at the 28:52 mark of the first period. Senior All-Conference forward Josh Oakley (Mattoon,IL/HS), who led the team with 11 goals last year, scored both of Monmouth's goals, the first coming just two minutes after intermission. Oakley converted a pass from junior midfielder Washington Mukumbila (Addis Ababa,Ethiopia/Tigoni) to tie the score at 1-1. Neither team could find the net the remainder of the half and the game stayed tied through regulation and one overtime period. Oakley hit for his second score of the afternoon at 6:03 of the second OT for the eventual game-winner.

Jeff Sutton (Alton,IL/HS) picked up the win in the nets as the senior All-Conference goalie stopped nine Blueboy shots on goal. The victory moves Monmouth to 1-0 on the season and in MWC action while Illinois drops to 0-2, 0-1.

Both teams are home next Sunday against Lake Forest in a crucial early-season conference test. Lake Forest is the defending men's conference champion while the Forester women reached the league title game last fall, finishing second to Grinnell. The women kick off their match at 11:00 AM at Bobby Woll Athletic Field and the men follow at 1:00 PM.