October 19, 1997

MONMOUTH, IL -- A season of disappointment and frustration continued for the Fighting Scots men's soccer team this past weekend as Monmouth dropped two Midwest Conference matches to MWC North Division teams. St. Norbert blanked the Scots 5-0 on Saturday and Lawrence defeated Monmouth 4-2 on Sunday. The losses move the squad's season record to 4-9 and the Scots, who lost all six matches against the North Division teams, are 1-7 in conference action with their final league match scheduled at Grinnell next Sunday.

St. Norbert dominated the Saturday match, which was held at Galesburg High School due to the Homecoming football game on the MC campus. The Green Knights tallied three goals in the first half and added two more insurance scores in the second period as Monmouth could not find any sustained offensive scheme. Senior goalkeeper Jeff Sutton (Alton,IL/HS) was peppered by 22 Norbert shots and was credited with 10 saves in the nets.  

The Scots went a third half without scoring as Lawrence jumped to a 2-0 halftime advantage Sunday at Woll Field and witnessed another devastating injury as Sutton suffered a broken tibia in his lower leg late in the match. Monmouth finally snapped its scoreless streak as senior striker Josh Oakley (Mattoon,IL/HS) scored his team-leading 13th and 14th goals of the season early in the second half to tie the match. Oakley's first goal came on an assist pass from junior midfielder Sean Lowery (St. Charles,MO/ Francis Howell North) in the 57th minute of play and the second was six minutes later on a penalty kick awarded because of a Lawrence hand-ball violation in the goal box.

However, the Vikings regained the lead with a penalty-kick goal at 66:30 and then added the clincher in the 71st minute. The scoring was completed by the time of Sutton's injury, which came on a Lawrence offensive run and the subsequent shot attempt in front of the Scots' goal with ten minutes remaining in the match.

  Monmouth is on the road this week for two non-conference matches before the final MWC date at Grinnell. The Scots play at Marycrest International in Davenport, IA on Wednesday at 3:30 PM and travel to Cedar Rapids, IA for a match with Mount Mercy on Saturday at 1:00 PM. The Grinnell match will be the season finale for the men.