Scots Soccer Drops Hard-Fought Game 4-3 on Friday

Esparon nets goal, assists two others in loss

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/24/2022) —
The Monmouth College men's soccer team lost a hard-fought non-conference battle against Finlandia University, 4-3 in the rain Friday afternoon. The Scots led the game 3-0 with 32 minutes to play but the Lions scored four unanswered for the win.

The Scots (1-5-2) got on the board in the 33rd minute. Reid Sondgeroth (Mapleton, Illinois) scored his first goal of the season on a nifty pass from Nico Esparon (St. Denis, France). After dishing out the assist, Esparon bagged his fourth goal of the season just eight minutes later to give the Scots a 2-0 lead.

Monmouth took the 2-0 lead into halftime and switched goalies in the second half with Christopher Zavala (New Lenox, Illinois) replacing Marcos Garibay (Waukegan, Illinois). The Scots put the pressure on to start the half and nearly scored just a minute into the period. They earned a corner kick in the 49th minute and Jaxon Coleman (Washington, Illinois) finished a scramble in the goal mouth for a 3-0 Scots lead. Esparon picked up his second assist on the play, serving up the corner kick.

The Scots still led 3-0 when the Lions got on the board in the 58th minute. The Scots stayed on top 3-1 until the 73rd minute and the Lions tied the game just four minutes later. They capped off the comeback with a goal at 78:15 to take a 4-3 lead with three goals in less than six minutes.

The Scots outshot the Lions 17-16 for the game but Finlandia had 12 shots on goal to eight for Monmouth. Zavala made seven saves while Garibay had one in the first half. Sondgeroth led the Scots with three shots on goal while Cam Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) had two.

Monmouth will play their final non-conference game of the regular season on Wednesday. They host Augustana at 3 p.m. before heading to Lake Forest and opening Midwest Conference play on Saturday, Oct. 2.

Nicolas

Esparon