Men's Soccer Falls to IC on Late Goal

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/23/2026) — The Monmouth College men's soccer team gave up a goal with 1:42 left to play and lost 1-0 at Illinois College on Tuesday night. The Scots return to action with a MWC game against Lawrence at home on Saturday for Family Weekend.

Senior goalkeeper Luis Villa (El Paso, Texas) made a save in the fourth minute and the Blue Boys had two shots go wide. The Scots put their first shot on target in the 24th minute as Isai Barajas (El Paso, Texas) tested the IC keeper. Two minutes later Paul Oros (El Paso, Texas) had a shot saved and Nehemiah Coleman (Portland, Oregon) followed with a shot over the bar. Villa made two saves in a minute right before halftime to keep the game scoreless.

The stalemate continued into the second half as Barajas had a shot blocked in the 56th minute. Villa made a save five minutes later and another one with just over 20 minutes to play. Neither team put a shot on goal for the next 15 minutes and IC took the lead with under two minutes to play before running out the clock with a pair of corners.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: In addition to Villa, Alex Franco (El Paso, Texas), Owen Murray (Cedar City Texas) and Ian Rowland (Jackson, Georgia) played all 90 minutes ... Villa made five saves ... Shots were 16-4 in favor of IC and shots on goal were 6-2 ... Monmouth leads the all-time series 24-18-7 though IC has won the last three ... The Scots return home Saturday at 11 a.m. against Lawrence.