JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College women's soccer team fell behind early on in the match on Friday afternoon against Monmouth College but kept the Fighting Scots close until two goals early on in the second half sealed the victory for the Fighting Scots, 3-0. The Lady Blues drop to 5-8-0 (0-4-0 Midwest Conference) with the loss.
In the ninth minute of the match, Monmouth played a square ball from the left wing and
Charlotte Crofton was able to make a terrific one-handed save of a shot by Jordyn Gosell. Unfortunately the ball trickled directly into the path of Mikayla McCart, who tucked it away to give the Fighting Scots a 1-0 lead. Despite a 12-1 edge in total shots in the first half, that would be as much as Monmouth could muster against a locked-in IC defense in the opening 45 minutes.
Though the Lady Blues have more scoring opportunities in the second half, Monmouth was more clinical. Kara-Jade Gordon got the Fighting Scots going in the 56th minute with a long-distance shot that bounced just in front of Crofton and the senior keeper was unable to deal with it as it deflected into a corner of the net for a 2-0 lead. Just minutes later, a handball in the box led to a penalty kick for the Fighting Scots and Devin Cross deposited it into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead in the 60th minute.
The Lady Blues looked to get back in it, but only one shot in the second half was on target. Quinn Cutler made two saves in the match to earn the win for Monmouth. Crofton ended with 11 on the day for IC.
Katie Elmore had three of the five shots in the match for Illinois College, two of which were on frame.
Illinois College goes on the road on Sunday afternoon, facing Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa at 1 p.m.
