The Monmouth College men's soccer team scored first and last in a 2-2 tie against Lawrence University on Saturday. The draw opens Midwest Conference play for the Fighting Scots (2-5-2, 0-0-1) who will play their next two games on the road.
Monmouth goalkeeper Alejandro Zamarripa (El Paso, Texas) made a big save early in the game to deny Lawrence. The next good scoring chance came for the Scots and they didn't miss. Kristofer Ruiz-Camarena (El Paso, Texas) dribbled around and through the Vikings defense before threading a pass for fellow sophomore Owen Murray (Cedar City, Utah). Murray was left one-on-one with the Vikings keeper and he buried the ball in the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
Zamarripa made another save right after the Scots took the lead and he finished the half with three saves. Lawrence came up with a strong save to deny Omar Portillo (El Paso, Texas) in the final moment of the half as Monmouth took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Both teams had early chances denied by strong goalkeeper in the second half before Lawrence tied the game in the 63rd minute. Up and down the field action continued and the Vikings took the lead in the 74th minute on a scramble from a free kick. In the 82nd minute, Monmouth got even as Ruiz-Camarena pulled the strings again. He took the ball on the right wing, cut into the middle and floated a perfect pass across the box. Tanner Faivre (Earlville, Illinois) scored his first collegiate goal to equalize. Ruiz-Camarena had a chance to win the game late but his shot in the box was saved with just over a minute to play.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Treyton Yi (Streamwood, Illinois) played all 90 minutes for the ninth straight game ... Logan Corgan (Geneseo, Illinois), Ramon Aguilar (St. Louis, Missouri) and Zamarripa ... Zamarripa finished with eight saves, tying his season and career high ... Ruiz-Camarena had his first career multi-assist gameHe leads the Scots with three assists and 11 points on the season ... Murray and Ruiz-Camarena are tied for the team lead in goals with four ... The teams also tied 2-2 last year ... The all-time series is even 11-11-4 ...The next home game is Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 3:30 p.m. against Illinois College
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