Davis Scores as Scots Beat Grinnell in Season Finale

Scots top Pioneers for first time since 2011

by Nathan Balvia

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/29/2024) — The Monmouth College men's soccer team ended the season with one of their best performances of the campaign and a 1-0 home win over Grinnell College on Tuesday. The Scots (3-11-2, 1-6-1) end an 11-game losing streak to the Pioneers, dating back to the 2011 season.

"We came out and worked hard for 90 minutes today," said head coach Ian Hatleli. "We had some real bite to us from the start today and we talked about wanting it more than they did. We showed that today for 90 minutes and got the result we deserved. The guys could have packed it in but they didn't. They wanted it more, it showed and this is a building block for next year.".

Monmouth was on the front foot from the start with four shots and a corner kick in the first 20 minutes. The Scots got a series of corner kicks and made it count as Parker Davis (Burlington, Iowa) put the ball past the Pioneers keeper in the 24th minute off a corner kick from Isaac Price (Peoria, Illinois). Monmouth kept the pressure going and Isai Barajas (El Paso, Texas) nearly doubled the lead just moments later. In all, Monmouth outshot Grinnell 11-4 in the first half and took the 1-0 lead into the break.

The Pioneers, fighting for a MWC Tournament berth, turned up the pressure in the second half. Monmouth goalkeeper Alejandro Zamarripa (El Paso, Texas) made seven saves in the final 45 minutes to preserve his first solo shutout of the season. Total shots were 17-13 in favor of Grinnell and they also led in shots on goal 10-7. Barajas led the Scots with three shots, all on goal, while Davis had two shots on goal.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Freshman Treyton Yi (Streamwood, Illinois) played all 90 minutes for the 15th time this season ... Yi and co-captain Logan Corgan (Geneseo, Illinois) were the only two players to start all 16 games ... Yi led the Scots with 1,429 minutes played, nearly 300 more than any other Monmouth player ... Eleven players appeared in all 16 games, including Zamarripa who had a season and career-high nine saves on Tuesday ... He led the Scots with 67 saves on the season and was part of three shutout overall, sharing the other two with Luis Villa (El Paso, Texas) ... Monmouth's last shutout was a 0-0 draw against UWSP on Sept. 12Owen Murray (Cedar City, Utah) led the Scots with five goals on the season ... Kristofer Ruiz-Camarena (El Paso, Texas)< who missed two of the final three games with an injury, led the Scots with three assists and 11 points ... The last win against Grinnell was a 2-1 home win on Oct. 11, 2011 ... The Pioneers had won 11 straight and lead the all-time series 48-11-1 ... Monmouth is 3-1 in the final game of the season under Hatleli.