RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon men's soccer program continued its march to the Midwest Conference Tournament with a critical 3-2 home win over Lawrence on Tuesday night at Hopp Stadium – the Red Hawks' first victory over Lawrence in a dozen years.
 
Andre Robertson produced the 12th hat trick in Ripon men's soccer history, scoring all three goals for the Red Hawks in the win.
 
With one day of Midwest Conference play remaining on Saturday, Knox (13 points), Ripon (12 points) and Grinnell (11 points) will battle for the two remaining spots in the Midwest Conference Tournament hosted by Lake Forest next weekend. Knox and Ripon will go head-to-head, while Grinnell visits Lawrence Saturday morning.
 
In the 10th minute, Ripon (13-6, 4-3 MWC) struck first. Ian Martinez lofted a beautiful ball from the corner towards the goal, where Robertson scooped it up and put it past the Lawrence (2-10-4, 1-4-2 MWC) keeper to give the Red Hawks an early advantage.
 
Ripon outshot the Vikings 10-6 in the first 45 minutes of play, totaling five shots on goal to the visitors' one as the Red Hawks led 1-0 at the break.
 
After a pass from Nick Bellisle in the 47th minute, Robertson scored his second of the night. However, Lawrence would not be down two goals for long, as Aidan Greer rocketed a shot past Ripon keeper Sam Jahnke in the 50th minute to cut the deficit to one at 2-1.
 
The Vikings tied the game with a goal in the 70th minute, but Robertson netted the game-winner and his first career hat trick in the 75th minute on another assist from Martinez following a collision with the Lawrence goalkeeper, which awarded the Vikings player a red card.
 
Robertson's 14th goal now puts him alone in fourth in the program record books for single-season goals, and he now stands alone in seventh in the Ripon career record books for goals with 23.
 
Ripon bled out the remaining 15 minutes and picked up the key conference victory.
 
The Red Hawks had a 19-14 edge in total shots, and had eight shots on goal to Lawrence's seven. Robertson totaled six shots, while Finley Manning had four and Bellisle tallied two.
 
Jahnke played all 90 minutes in goal, stopping five shots.
 
UP NEXT: Ripon hosts Knox for the home finale on Saturday, November 2 at 11 a.m. The match will also be Senior Day for the Red Hawks.
 
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