MONMOUTH, Illinois – The Ripon men's soccer program won its third consecutive Midwest Conference match on Saturday, holding off Monmouth 3-2 at the Peacock Memorial Athletic Park.
 
Ripon (12-6, 3-3 MWC) wasted no time striking first Saturday morning. Gustavo Herrera scored his eighth of the season in the second minute, putting the Red Hawks in front of Monmouth (2-11-2, 0-6-1 MWC) just moments into the match.
 
Herrera wasn't done scoring in the first half – in the 28th minute, he notched his ninth of the season off an assist by Seth Schroeder to double Ripon's lead.
 
The Red Hawks tacked on one more score in the opening stanza – Connor Handrick netted his first of the campaign in the 36th minute with an assist from Jackson Zielinski.
 
Monmouth trimmed its deficit with a score in the 40th minute, but Ripon headed into half with a 3-1 lead after putting up seven shots in the opening 45 minutes.
 
On the Scots' second shot of the second half, the hosts crept closer. Monmouth cut its deficit in half with a goal in the 52nd minute, tightening the match to 3-2.
 
The Scots had a 10-5 shot advantage in the second half, but Ripon kept its lead and preserved the important road victory.
 
Monmouth had a 16-12 edge in total shots throughout the match and had eight shots on goal to Ripon's seven. Seth Schroeder, Finley Manning and Herrera all led Ripon with two shots apiece.
 
Sam Jahnke started in goal for the Red Hawks and made four saves, while Christian Hernandez also saw time as goalkeeper and made two saves.
 
In a physical match, there were 22 total fouls and five total yellow cards issued.
 
UP NEXT: Ripon hosts Lawrence on Tuesday, October 29. Kickoff from Hopp Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
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