Ruiz-Camarena Scores but Scots Fall on Wednesday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/25/2024) — The Monmouth College men's soccer team lost their final non-conference game of the season 4-1 to Millikin on Wednesday. The game was tied after 78 minutes of action but the visitors scored three goals to pull away from the Fighting Scots (2-5-1).

The game was even for the first half hour as both teams had chances to take the lead. The Blue Boys converted with a goal in the box in the 31st minute and took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.

Monmouth pulled even just three minutes into the second half. Isaac Price (Peoria, Illinois) led the charge down the left side and passed into the middle for Kristofer Ruiz-Camarena (El Paso, Texas). The sophomore beat the Blue Boys keeper and put the ball into the bottom right corner for a 1-1 tie. Monmouth forced two saves out of the Millikin keeper but couldn't break through for the lead. The Blue Boys scored with 11:27 to play and added two more late goals to win 4-1, the final goal coming on a free kick with 15 seconds to play.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Treyton Yi (Streamwood, Illinois) played all 90 minutes for the eighth straight game ... Ruiz-Camarena, Logan Corgan (Geneseo, Illinois) and Ramon Aguilar (St. Louis, Missouri) also played all 90 minutes ... Alejandro Zamarripa (El Paso, Texas) started in goal and made two saves in the first half ... Luis Villa (El Paso, Texas) starred the second half in goal but had to be helped off the field with an injury in the 68th minute after making three saves ... Zamarripa returned to the game and made two more saves to finish with four ... Ruiz-Camarena leads the Scots with four goals and nine points on the season ... Corgan delivered his first career assist ... Millikin leads the all-time series 9-5-1 with four straight wins ... This was the first matchup since 2017 and the first time Monmouth coach Ian Hatleli faced his alma mater as a head coach ... The Scots start Midwest Conference play on Saturday with an 11 a.m. kickoff at home against Lawrence.