Women's Soccer Drops MWC Finale at Grinnell

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/25/2023) — The Monmouth College women's soccer team fell 4-0 in the regular-season finale at Grinnell on Tuesday, eliminating the Scots from Midwest Conference tournament contention. A goal in the final seconds of the first half changed the game and the Pioneers scored twice in the first seven minutes of the second half to pull away. The Scots (5-8-3, 3-4-1) faced a must-win scenario on Tuesday to get into the top four since Monmouth has a bye this weekend.

The game was scoreless until Grinnell scored on a shot in the box with five seconds left in the first half. The hosts fouled their lead just 90 seconds into the second half and made it 3-0 in the 53rd minute. The final goal came with 1:55 to play. Grinnell outshot Monmouth 39-5 in the game and shots on goal were 16-3.

Goalkeeper Anna Caster (Greenfield, Indiana) made 12 saves as she played all 90 minutes. Jae Mitchell (Rockford, Illinois), Lynn Rech (Vacaville, California) and Brooke Gruby (Leonardtown, Maryland) had shots on goal for the Scots.

"All credit to Grinnell for wearing us down, they played a great game," said head coach Lucas Henderson. "This shouldn't diminish what our team has done this season, outpacing preseason expectations and growing quite a bit in the process. I'm proud of this group and can't wait to see what is in store in the future."

Midwest Conference coaches picked the Scots to finish eighth out of nine teams in the preseason poll. With three wins and 10 points from eight games, Monmouth currently sits in fifth place and will finish no lower than sixth depending on what Illinois College (8 pts) does at Beloit (12 pts) on Saturday.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Avery Parks (Bloomington, Illinois), Elizabeth Schmidt (Waverly, Iowa), Nicole Koppers (Tinley Park, Illinois), Gruby and Caster played all 90 minutes. Schmidt and Parks both played 1434 out of 1440 minutes on the season. Monmouth is second in the MWC with 38 goals scored on the season. Madison Walker (Vernon Hills, Illinois) leads the MWC in shots per game (4.6) and shots on goal per game (2.7). Walker is tied for second with teammate Danielle Beach (Geneseo, Illinois) with nine goals scoredBeach leads the MWC with nine assists and ranks second in points (27), one spot ahead of Walker (21).Caster is fourth in the conference in saves per game (5.9).