Scots Earn Draw in Home Finale against Grinnell

Scots Need Help to Make MWC Tournament

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/31/2024) — The Monmouth College women's soccer team scored in the first minute but ultimately drew 1-1 against Grinnell in the regular season finale on Wednesday. The Fighting Scots (5-8-4, 3-3-2) are still alive for the final Midwest Conference Tournament spot but need results to go their way on both Thursday and Saturday.

"Any other day of the season we are pleased with this result," said head coach Lucas Henderson. "But knowing we probably needed a win we are definitely gutted. I'm so proud of this team and how they found themselves over the course of the season. If it really is the end, they should be holding their heads high."

Mariah Hobson (Princeton, Illinois) scored the fastest goal of the season for the Fighting Scots. The sophomore latched onto a through-ball from freshman Jackie Contreras (Peoria, Illinois) and provided a spectacular finish just 33 seconds into the game to give the Scots a 1-0 lead. Monmouth nearly doubled the lead right after the 10-minute mark but Kiersten Medinger (Silvis, Illinois) had her shot saved. Danielle Beach (Geneseo, Illinois) and Molly Shook (Morton, Illinois) both had shots saved later in the half as Monmouth took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Grinnell, who has already clinched a MWC Tournament berth, tied the game just 4:30 into the second half. Goalkeeper Anna Caster (Greenfield, Indiana) saved the initial shot at point-blank range but the rebound made it through, tying the game. Caster made a series of fantastic saves to keep the game tied, including one she pushed onto the crossbar. Monmouth's best chance came with just under seven minutes to play but Beach's shot was just over the bar and neither team found the game-winner.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Avery Parks (Bloomington, Illinois) played all 90 minutes and has played every minute this season ... She led the team with 1,513 minutes played on the season ... Caster, Taylor Freeman (Washington, Illinois), Mylee Hansen (Pekin, Illinois) and Brooke Gruby (Leonardtown, Maryland) also played 90 minutes on Wednesday ... Hobson scored her sixth goal of the season, second on the team ... She is also second with 12 points ... Beach led the Scots with 11 goals which is tied for 15th on the single-season goals list ... She also led the team with eight assists and 30 points /// The assists mark is tied for 7th and she is tied for 12th on the single-season points list... ... Freeman, Gruby, Parks and Contreras (Peoria, Illinois) started all 17 games ... Hobson and Natalya Main (Peoria, Illinois) also played in all 17 games ... Caster made 10 saves on Wednesday and moved into fourth on the single-season list with 116She posted a .753 save percentage on the season, just outside the top 10 ... Grinnell leads the all-time series 27-4-2 ... Monmouth's last win was 3-2 in 2021 ... The Scots need Illinois College to not win on Thursday at Cornell and then need IC to beat Beloit on Saturday ... A Beloit draw or win, or two IC wins eliminate the Scots.