September 28, 1998

Monmouth,IL – The Monmouth soccer teams hosted Midwest Conference North Division rivals Carroll and Ripon at Bobby Woll Field this past weekend in men’s and women’s action but could only come up with one victory in the four matches. The women’s team lost to Carroll on Saturday 2-1 but rebounded to defeat Ripon by the same score on Sunday. The split moves the women’s record to 4-4 on the season and 1-2 in league play. The men were also looking for their first conference victory but could only manage a 2-2 tie with Carroll on Saturday before dropping Sunday’s match to Ripon 5-1. The men’s season record now stands at 2-5-2 and the squad is 0-3-1 in four MWC matches.

In women’s action Monmouth surrendered two early goals to Carroll and had to play from behind on Saturday. The Pioneers scored twice in the first 13 minutes on Scot goalie Colleen Shaughnessy (Springfield,IL/Ursuline Academy), who played the entire game and was credited with 5 saves. Monmouth scored in the 26th minute on a goal by junior Anna Schlemmer (Florissant,MO/ Hazelwood Central). Schlemmer’s first tally of the season came on an assist by junior midfielder Jill Heneghan (Godfrey,IL/Alton) and proved to be the only offense the Scots could muster. "This was our best overall team performance of the season," remarked Coach Simon Cordery. "We allowed Carroll to take the early lead then fought back extremely well and should have won."

A late goal on Sunday finally did give the Scots their first league win as senior forward Tisha Kimoto (Pittsford,NY/Waubonsie Valley [IL] HS) scored twice against Ripon. Kimoto opened the scoring with her fifth goal of the season only 39 seconds into the match on a joint assist by Sarah Stevenson (St. Louis,MO/Cleveland NJROTC) and Jessica Adams (Harvard,IL/HS). The Red Hawks responded with the tying goal in the 14th minute of the first half and the match remained deadlocked until the Scots pushed the ball down the left side of the field late in the second period. Freshman Jennifer Roth (East Peoria,IL/HS) and senior Julie Kahl (Crystal Lake,IL/Central) were credited with the assist as Kimoto knocked home her team-leading sixth goal and the defense was able to make the score stand in the final minutes. Trisha Larson (Rockford,IL/East) started in goal for Monmouth and played 60 minutes, picking up two saves, before being relieved by Shaughnessy. "This was a physical match in which Ripon tried basically to outmuscle us," said Cordery. "Our players responded beautifully and we remained well-organized and fought hard until we managed the final goal."

Monmouth next plays a non-conference match against Fontbonne College at Woll Field on Sunday, October 4. The team’s next MWC match is scheduled for October 6 at home against Illinois College.