Scots Draw Augustana on Senior Day

Mitchell scores, assists in 2-2 draw

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/16/2023) — The Monmouth College women's soccer team scored first and last in a 2-2 home draw against Augustana on Saturday afternoon. The Scots (2-3-2) celebrated senior day and honored five seniors pregame.

Senior Jae Mitchell (Rockford, Illinois) put the Scots on the board in the seventh minute with a goal from the right side of the box. Freshman Danielle Beach (Geneseo, Illinois) had the assist, her sixth of the season. Augustana tied the game in the 19th minute and the contest was still 1-1 at halftime.

"Scoring first was one of our goals for today and we did that," said coach Lucas Henderson. "It was a good start for us and we held our ground even after they tied it."

The Vikings took the lead with an unassisted goal in the 55th minute. The game stayed 2-1 for nearly a half hour. In the 82nd minute, Mitchell broke down the right side and sent a cross into the middle of the box. Grasyn Schmidt (Lodi, Wisconsin) headed the cross past the Augustana keeper for her first Monmouth goal. Mitchell had a breakaway in the final five minutes but the Augustana keeper made a diving save to keep the game tied. Monmouth keeper Anna Caster (Greenfield, Indiana) also made a couple spectacular saves late in the game to keep Augustana from a third goal.

"To pull it back late on a beautiful goal was great," said coach Henderson. "We've been waiting to get a full 90-minute game together and it felt like we got a step closer to doing that today. Today was a fun game to watch from the sideline."

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Both teams took 16 shots in the game and Monmouth had more shots on goal, 9-8. Caster made six saves. Lynn Rech (Vacaville, California) led the Scots with three shots on goal. Avery Parks (Bloomington, Illinois), Madison Walker (Vernon Hills, Illinois), Nicole Koppers (Tinley Park, Illinois) and Caster played all 90 minutes. Elizabeth Schmidt (Waverly, Iowa) came off the field for the first time this season due to a bloody nose but she returned to play 84 minutes. She had played every minute in the last 30 Scots games dating back to the middle of the 2021 season. Walker, Schmidt, Koppers, Mitchell and Alyssa Mileham (South Elgin, Illinois) were honored pregame along with student manager Tori Cook for Senior Day... The Scots will next play on Friday at 6 p.m. at Lawrence in the Midwest Conference opener.