RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon men's soccer program saw its season come to an end on Saturday afternoon with a 2-2 draw against Knox at Hopp Stadium on Senior Day.
The Prairie Fire will be the three seed in next week's Midwest Conference Tournament, while Grinnell stole the fourth and final spot with a win at Lawrence on Saturday.
Ripon ends its season with remarkable team numbers - the Red Hawks set a school record in single-season assists (45), were second in program history in single-season goals (56) and second in single-season points (157).
Both teams had Grade A chances in the first half – Knox (7-7-3, 4-2-2 MWC) had a number of point-blank shots on goal, while
Seth Schroeder headed a ball off the post in the final 15 minutes of the stanza. In the 35th minute, the Prairie Fire found the back of the net and took a 1-0 lead into intermission.
However, Ripon (13-6-1, 4-3-1 MWC) answered in the 50th minute.
Andre Robertson connected for his 15th of the season from
Gustavo Herrera, tying the match at one.
The goal was the 15th of Robertson's season, and 24th of his career. He's now tied for third in program history for single-season goals, and stays in seventh all-time in career goals.
Ripon continued to push the envelope in the second half, and scored in the waning moments in incredible fashion. In the 79th minute,
Thomas Geocaris had a long throw-in to
Nick Bellisle, and the senior bicycle kicked it in for the go-ahead goal.
Unfortunately, after a melee in front of the net, Knox scored the game-tying goal in the 85th minute. Ripon was unable to take the lead in the final moments and picked up its first draw of the season.
Robertson had a team-high five shots, while
Ivan Barrientos and Schroeder each had two.
Sam Jahnke made eight saves in goal playing all 90 minutes for the Red Hawks.
Knox had a 21-13 advantage in total shots, and had 10 shots on goal to Ripon's five.
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