GRINNELL, Iowa – The Illinois College men's soccer team ended its 2018 season with a 3-0 loss to Grinnell College on Saturday. The Pioneers struck three times in the opening half and held on despite a better effort from the Blueboys in the second half.
The opening chance of the match was Illinois College's in the third minute when
Ryan May had his shot saved by Jared Cloutier. It wasn't until the 17th minute that Grinnell put a shot on target, but
Mitchell Stonehouse had the save. Unfortunately, the opening goal came less than two minutes later when Jasper Yang deposited his 11th of the season past Stonehouse for a 1-0 lead.
Very soon thereafter, Yang struck again. The sophomore's 12th goal of the season in the 22nd minute doubled the Grinnell lead. The Pioneers continued to mount pressure until an own goal in the 38th minute gave them a 3-0 lead at the break.
Grinnell came out strong in the second half, but Stonehouse managed to save all efforts on frame to keep Illinois College within three. The Blueboys almost got one back in the 58th minute, but
Luke Iraci hit the post. As the half wore on, Cloutier made saves on shots from
Brady O'Connell and
Spencer Bloome to seal the shutout.
May led Illinois College with three shots, two of which were on goal. Iraci and
John Antoine each ended with two shots in the match. Stonehouse made 12 saves in goal.
Despite the win, Grinnell came up three points short of qualifying for the Midwest Conference Tournament, ending at 8-7 (5-4 MWC). IC ends the season at 5-12-1 (2-6-1 MWC).
