RIPON, Wis. -- The Ripon College men's soccer team (9-5-2, 3-3-1 MWC) earned a decisive victory over the visiting Beloit College Buccaneers (6-8-4, 3-2-2 MWC) this Saturday, Oct 25. Sophomore Gabe O'Doherty (La Vista, Neb., Roncalli Catholic HS) would score the first goal of his career in the contest, while senior Matthew Hegge (Lake Villa, Ill., Warren HS) would score his first since his freshman season. 

Both teams would adopt quick paced pushes up the sideline from the start of the contest on, resulting in a steady stream of shot attempts for each program. Ripon would take the first attempt of the game in the 5th minute, but the Buccaneers would fire back with the first shot on goal of the contest in the 11th minute. The Red Hawks would earn the first goal of the day in the 22nd minute, as Hegge would pull the defenders and goalie in a move across the box to set up O'Doherty for the open net goal. The first half would end with each team prodding, but finding few solid attempts after the initial goal, only to give way to a frenetic second half of action. 

The final 45 minutes saw a near repeat of the first goal. In the 50th minute, forward Seth Schroeder (Iron Ridge, Wis., Winnebago Lutheran Academy) would pull the defenders and goalies across the box, passing to Hegge for the goal to give Ripon a 2-0 lead. As the game continued on, both teams saw an uptick in physicalty of play, with four yellow cards handed out in the proceeding eleven minutes of game time. Beloit would end with four yellow cards for the game, while Ripon would be given three. 

The dagger came from senior Finley Manning (St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, Holy Heart of Mary HS) in the 77th minute. Chasing down a beautifully played long ball from the Ripon back line, Manning would see his first shot blocked by the keeper, but convert his own rebound for a 3-0 Red Hawks lead. Beloit would attempt to answer with a series of deep shots late, but the Red Hawks would hold strong, earning a 3-0 shutout over the visitors. 

Ripon stays in the conference tournament hunt with the win, closely competing in a field with five other MWC teams for the final three spots in postseason play. With three points for an MWC win and one point for a tie, the Red Hawks join Knox as tied for 6th with ten points, trailing Grinnell and Beloit sharing fourth place with 11. Illinois College, in third, holds 12 points, while Cornell, the second place program, has 13. The final conference regular season games will occur Nov 1, while Ripon next returns to action for a non-conference game against Lakeland on Wednesday, Oct 29. The Muskies enter the contest 5-10-2 this season, coming off a 2-4 loss to CUW.