September 14, 1997

MONMOUTH,IL - After starting their respective seasons with identical 2-1 victories last week, the Monmouth College men's and women's soccer teams played host to the Lake Forest Foresters on Sunday at Bobby Woll Field. Unfortunately, LFC spoiled the Scots' home openers and swept the matches, showing why they are preseason favorites to again reach the Midwest Conference tournament.

The Monmouth women, who stunned arch-rival Knox last Wednesday, continue to surprise league competition as they pushed the Foresters into overtime before falling by a 2-1 count. LFC was beaten in the league finals last year while the Scots went 3-12-1, but Monmouth quickly established their fierce resolve in the first-ever meeting between the two schools in women's soccer. Freshman Jessica Adams (Harvard,IL/HS) scored her second goal in as many games on an unassisted shot at the 23:42 mark of the first. In front of a large and supportive home crowd, Adams beat the LFC goalie and hit the open net to give the Scots a 1-0 lead which still stood at halftime.

The Monmouth defense kept Lake Forest scoreless until the 66th minute of the match when Jessica Wiehrdt connected for the tying goal on a free kick. The two squads were then deadlocked for a full 50 minutes before LFC tallied the winning goal with five minutes remaining in the second overtime period. Both teams attempted 25 shots on goal with Monmouth goalkeepers Colleen Shaughnessy (Springfield,IL/Ursuline) and Natalie Harris (Oswego,IL/HS) combining for 17 saves.
"We played an outstanding match," said Monmouth coach Simon Cordery. "We just ran out of energy at the end." Monmouth is now 1-1 on the season and 1-1 in MWC action.

The men also evened their season and conference records at 1-1 as Lake Forest dominated the second half of the home doubleheader. Monmouth actually outshot the Foresters 29-27 but could not find the nets, while Lake Forest put two scores on the board in each half to claim a 4-0 shutout victory. LFC was led by a pair of All-MWC players as junior Ryan Bushnell scored two goals, the second on a penalty kick, and midfielder Scott Merrill added a second-half penalty kick score to seal the victory for the defending Midwest Conference champions. Jeff Sutton (Alton,IL/HS) played the entire game in the nets for Monmouth and was credited with 17 saves.

Both teams play at home twice during the upcoming week as the men host former MWC member Cornell in a non-conference match on Tuesday at 4:30 PM and the women welcome non-conference opponent Greenville on Wednesday for a 4:30 PM kickoff. The teams will entertain MWC North Division rival Beloit in another conference doubleheader next Saturday as the women play at 1:00 PM and the men follow at 3:00 PM.