By: A second half goal from Ashley Sholmire knotted the match at 1-1, but Monmouth scored the winner in the 81st minute.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — After a phenomenal five-match road trip, the Illinois College women's soccer team was looking forward to coming home to England Stadium for Wednesday night's matchup with Monmouth College. The Lady Blues (7-4-1, 1-2-1 MWC) had the better run of play throughout most of the night, but an opportunistic Monmouth squad was able to convert on a pair of chances and come away with a 2-1 win.
Early on, Illinois College was fighting to stay level as Monmouth came out of the gates strong and pressured the IC defense. As the half progressed the Lady Blues were able to press forward more frequently and ended the opening 45 minutes with nine corner kicks to zero for the Scots. IC also had an 11-6 shot advantage at the half, but the teams retired to the locker rooms in a scoreless tie.
The deadlock was broken quickly as Monmouth's Lauren Kellen scored the opening goal in the 49th minute with an assist by Allie DeArvil. In search of the tying goal, the Lady Blues unlocked the Monmouth defense in the 62nd minute. A ball played forward to
Sarah Skaggs was lifted into the box and settled by
Bianca Savarese. Savarese drew the attention of the Monmouth goalkeeper and slid the ball low to
Ashley Sholmire who scored into a wide-open net.
The score remained tied until Monmouth found the winning goal in the 81st minute. A cross in from the left flank brought IC keeper
Cat Solberg away from her net, where she collided with an oncoming Monmouth attacker. The ball bounced over the top of the two and came to the feet of Darice Brooks, who was unchallenged as she delivered the game-winning score.
Illinois College ended the night with a 25-11 edge in shots and a 14-0 advantage in corner kicks. Sholmire and Savarese led the team with six shots apiece, Skaggs added five and
Meadow Hardy added three.
Illinois College will be back in action on Oct. 12th, facing Ripon at 1:30 p.m. from England Stadium.
