Guenther Scores, Men's Soccer Draws 1-1

Monmouth ties in home debut

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/18/2021) — The Monmouth College men's soccer team had their home opener on Friday afternoon and finished with a 1-1 tie against Buena Vista University. The Scots (0-1-2) will also be home on Saturday against the University of Dubuque at 3 p.m.

The Scots outshot the Beavers 3-2 in the first half but neither team scored. Sophomore Christopher Zavala (New Lenox, Illinois) got his first start in goal this season and made one save in the first half as the game went scoreless into halftime.

Just 28 seconds into the second half the Scots got on the board. Senior Brendan Guenther (Pekin, Illinois) took the ball down the left side, into the box and nutmegged the BVU keeper for his first goal of the season.

Buena Vista answered six minutes later as Brody Steinfeldt took a pass from Zachary Taylor and beat Zavala one-on-one to tie the game at one. Zavala made three saves in the second half but the Scots were unable to find the winner.

Twice in the second half senior Nico Esparon (Saint-Denis, France) was tackled hard by the BVU keeper Isaiah Thomas just outside the box. Both tackles resulted in yellow cards, the second of which happened with nine seconds left in regulation. Esparon wasn't able to continue after being helped off the field, Thomas was ejected with a red card and the Beavers played overtime with just 10 men.

In overtime the Scots outshot BVU 3-1 but neither team scored and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Guenther's goal was the first of his Scots careerZavala played all 110 minutes, as did Jaxon Coleman (Washington, Illinois), Tanner Viren (East Moline, Illinois) and Montgomery Schroeder (Harrisonville, Missouri)Schroeder and Ivan Sanchez (Hoffman Estates, Illinois) both recorded shots on goalMonmouth had 54% of the possessionBoth teams had five corner kicksThe Scots have played consecutive 110 minute double-OT games with Coleman, Viren and Schroeder logging all 220 minutes.