Lady Blues Soccer Earn MWC Victory Over Monmouth 2-1

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - The IC women's soccer team resumed Midwest Conference play by hosting Monmouth College Tuesday evening. The Lady Blues earned their first MWC victory of the season by defeating Monmouth College by the final score of 2-1. IC now stands 5-6-2 overall and 1-1-1 in the MWC. 

From the starting whistle, IC came out very aggressive on offense with four shots in first eight minutes of action. In the eighth minute, Olivia Ralston took a shot on goal when Monmouth's goalkeeper Anna Caster has trouble collecting the ball as Kayla Piper netted the rebound that gave IC the early 1-0 lead.

In the 28th minute, Darian Blackburn gave IC an insurance goal that was assisted by Haley Sommer. In the final minutes of the first half, Monmouth cut the deficit in half at 2-1 on a penalty kick goal from Elizabeth Schimdt. IC and Monmouth went into halftime with the score at 2-1. 

On the ensuing second half kickoff, Ralston dribbled the ball all the way into the attacking zone when her shot went just wide left. Monmouth became very aggressive in the second half with several shots on goal that where all shots was saved by Sophia Kriegesmann. In the 65th minute, Monmouth has their best chance of tying the match when Madison Walker collected the rebound off Kriegesmann and missed an open net attempt over the net.  

For the match, Ralston and Sommer led IC with five shots each. First-year goalkeeper in Kriegesmann had a career-best match as she recorded 13 saves in goal for IC. Kriegesmann had several diving saves that help lift the Lady Blues to victory. 

The Lady Blues will continue MWC play on Saturday, October 14 at 5:30 PM hosting Lawrence University.