Sangamon Sun

The Illinois College men's soccer team began their defense of the Midwest Conference regular season title with a 3-1 win over Ripon on Saturday at England Stadium in Jacksonville, Illinois.

The victory brought Illinois College's record to 6-3-1 overall and 1-0-0 in conference play. Ripon's record fell to 8-2-0 and 0-1-0.

The first half was marked by strong defensive play from both teams, but the offenses came alive in the second half. Jacob Pelletier opened the scoring for Illinois College at the 59:52 mark with an assist from Carver Taylor. Oscar Liogon Arenas added another goal for Illinois College at 66:27, unassisted.

Ripon responded with a penalty kick goal by Finley Manning at the 75:54 mark. However, Tyler Schiltz sealed the victory for Illinois College with a goal at 88:05.

Illinois College out-shot Ripon 19-7, led by Schiltz and Liogon Arenas who each had four shots. Jason Hernandez and Reed Rogers contributed three shots each for Illinois College. Owen Macias played the entire match in goal for Illinois College, making three saves.

"IC is now 3-0-1 in its last four regular-season conference home matches and 6-1-2 in its last nine conference contests."

Next up for Illinois College is their final non-conference game of the season on Wednesday when they travel to Elmhurst for a 5:00 p.m. kickoff.