October 19, 1998

The Monmouth men’s soccer team traveled to Wisconsin this past weekend for a Midwest Conference doubleheader looking for its first league win and returned with a split of the two matches. The Fighting Scots defeated Lawrence 2-0 on Saturday for their first MWC victory of the season and then dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 match at St. Norbert on Sunday. The split leaves Monmouth with a record of 3-9-2 on the season and 1-6-1 against MWC opponents.
Despite poor field conditions due to rain Monmouth and Lawrence played a tight match in Appleton on Saturday afternoon. The Scots controlled the early tempo but the host Vikings were stubborn on defense. Junior midfielder Marlon Layton (London,England/St. George’s) broke a scoreless tie with his second goal of the season, a direct shot from outside the 18=yard line which beat the LU defenders at the 25:53 mark of the first period.
The Monmouth defense, spearheaded by juniors Gary Schneider (East Moline,IL/United Township) and Matt Burge (Champaign,IL/Central), was able to offset the Viking offense and keep the Scots ahead. Monmouth coach Rue Carthew was also quick to praise the efforts of freshmen Jeffrey Samp (Schiller Park,IL/East Leyden) and Timothy Drenth (Berwyn,IL/ Morton West) on the defensive side of the ball as keys to the Monmouth win. After Schneider made a great play to knock aside an LU shot in front of the Monmouth goal, the Scots received an insurance goal from freshman Ryan Schlegel (Maple Park,IL/ Burlington Central). Schlegel converted an assist pass from senior Kai Riber (Des Moines,IA/Singapore American) to give the Scots a two-goal cushion and freshman keeper Joel Cowan (Alton,IL/ Alton) made three saves en route to earning his third shutout of the season.
A penalty kick by St. Norbert midway through the second half was the only score of the Sunday match as the Monmouth defense continued its fine play. The offense was stymied by the Green Knights, who outshot Monmouth 24-9 in the match on their way to their fourth straight league win. Cowan made six saves in goal but was beaten on the penalty kick attempt and Monmouth was shut out for the fifth time this season.
The Scots will host arch-rival Knox on Saturday in their final Midwest Conference match and will end the season on October 27 with a non-conference home match against Marycrest.