Kistler's Goal Leads Scots Past Ripon on Saturday
Monmouth moves into final MWC Tournament spot
MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/18/2026) — The Monmouth College women's soccer team jumped over two teams and into sixth place in the Midwest Conference standings with a dramatic 2-1 home win over Ripon on Saturday. With two games remaining, the Fighting Scots (7-6, 3-4) are two points ahead of Ripon and Grinnell for the final spot in the MWC Tournament.
"It is always good to get a result against a good team like Ripon," said head coach Rhys Lewis. "Pure effort and hard work today. We kept our composure down the stretch after taking the lead. Picking up points today and getting into a better position in the standings is what matters."
Monmouth put pressure on early with quality opportunities by Jackie Contreras (Peoria, Illinois) and Morgan Kistler (Kokomo, Indiana). They won a corner off Kistler's blocked shot and Contreras scored directly off the corner in the 11th minute. Cadence Covert (Pekin, Illinois) made a save and the teams went back-and-forth for the rest of the half. Covert made another save but in the 37th minute, the Red Hawks tied the game with a laser of a goal.
Covert made two saves early in the second half and Ripon made a save on Allison Griffin (Geneseo, Illinois). Lily Palazzolo (Washington, Michigan) also had her shot saved as Monmouth picked up two corner kicks in a row. Covert kept the game tied 1-1 with a pair of saves and in the 84th minute, Kistler beat the Ripon keeper with a low shot to the near post. Covert made saves with 2:20 and 1:18 left to preserve the win.
"Jackie takes all our attacking free kicks and corners and that was a great way to start the game," said Lewis. "We had full faith in the defense to get the win at the end after Morgan put us on top."
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Covert made 11 saves, tying her season and career best ... She has made 11 saves in three straight gamesWith her 17th goal and 39th point Kistler moved into 19th place on the Monmouth career points list ... She is tied for eighth all-time with five game-winning goals ... Kistler has seven goals this season to lead the team ... Contreras has two career goals as she also scored against Beloit last season ... Covert, Taylor Freeman (Washington, Illinois), Ali Barnum (Pekin, Illinois), Ali Denton (Saint Peters, Missouri) and Yoselim Hernandez (Monmouth, Illinois) played all 90 minutes ... Luther, Lake Forest and Lawrence clinched MWC Tournament berths on Saturday leaving Knox (13 pts), Beloit (10), Monmouth (9), Grinnell (7), Ripon (7) and Illinois College (6) to battle for the other three spots ... Monmouth and Ripon drew 0-0 last year ... Monmouth leads the all-time series 22-6-1 and are 6-3-1 in the last 10 ... The Scots won 4-2 in 2024, the last time the teams played in Monmouth ... The Scots play at Knox next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and the next home game is Oct. 31 against Luther.
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Nathan Baliva 309-457-2322 nbaliva@monmouthcollege.eduShare this Story
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