October 23, 1997

LAST-MINUTE GOAL DEFEATS MEN'S SOCCER

Davenport,IA -- Monmouth's late-season woes continued on Wednesday afternoon as the Fighting Scots men's soccer team suffered a 2-1 loss on the road at Marycrest. The non-conference defeat comes on the heels of weekend losses to MWC schools St. Norbert and Lawrence and drops the Scots' season record to 4-10 with two matches remaining on the schedule.

From an offensive standpoint Monmouth dominated the match, outshooting the Eagles by a 22-17 margin, and controlled the ball for most of the contest. However, despite the pressure, the Scots could not score in the first half. Marycrest would eventually score the match's first goal in the 48th minute of play to take a brief 1-0 lead.

Monmouth scored the equalizer just seven minutes later when junior midfielder Sean Lowery (St. Charles,MO/Francis Howell North) netted his fourth goal of the season on an assist pass from senior co-captain Dustin Salmon (Pekin,IL/HS). The match appeared to be headed for overtime as the clock wound down with no further obvious scoring chances. Marycrest, though, would get a late chance inside the Monmouth box and scored the game-winning goal with only 40 seconds left in regulation.

"This was the best we have played all year," commented Monmouth coach Rue Carthew. "We did just about everything right to win this match." Sophomore Matthew Burge (Champaign,IL/Central), subbing for the injured Jeff Sutton (broken leg), played the entire game at goalkeeper and was credited with nine saves.

Monmouth concludes its 1997 schedule with two road games this weekend in Iowa. The Scots will face Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids on Saturday and will play their final Midwest Conference match on Sunday at Grinnell. Both matches are scheduled to start at 1:00.