GALESBURG, Illinois—The Knox College Prairie Fire women’s soccer team defeated the Cornell College Rams by a final score of 3-0 on Senior Day at Jorge Prats Field this Saturday. Knox thoroughly dominated both sides of the ball, and as a result cruised to an easy victory.
On a warm October day, the Prairie Fire imposed their will on the Rams from the start. Their impressive offensive efforts yielded the first goal of the game in the form of a goal from the senior Rosie Medina in the 24th minute. The senior leadership showed today, as they used their experience to their advantage and suffocate the Cornell attack. Medina’s goal was the only score of the first half.
In the second half, Knox’s superior depth and offensive ability began to wear the Rams out, as Jenna Milligan scored her first goal of the season off of an assist by Lydia Mitchell to bring the Prairie Fire lead up to two. Knox’s 15 shots in the second half exemplified the renewed desire of their offense, and in the 85th minute senior Jessica Petersen scored her fourth goal of the season to put the game out of reach and secure the Prairie Fire seniors a victory.
“We owe a lot to the 11 seniors and it was nice to get them a win in their final regular season game,” said Chris Haught-Thompson. “Fortunately we get to play at home again on Friday and our attention turns to preparing for the conference tournament.”
The Knox women’s team has finished their regular season, and will next play in the Midwest Conference Tournament that they host on November 2nd. They will match up against Ripon in the semi-final on Friday.
GALESBURG, Illinois—The Knox College Prairie Fire men’s soccer team delivered for their seniors on Senior Day and beat the Cornell College Rams by a score of 2-1 at Jorge Prats Field. Knox played a persistent defense that nagged the Rams and never allowed them to set up many opportunities.
Knox began the game on fire, as Gavin Douglas sprinted down the field with the ball and rocketed a shot home to give Knox the opening score of the game in the first 30 seconds. Douglas, a senior, scored his first goal of the season on the play, and his fast pace in scoring set the tone for the Prairie Fire the rest of the game. While there would be no more scoring for either side the rest of the half, Knox’s defense held strong and allowed the offense to be creative in looking for shots.
When the Prairie Fire came out for the second half, their aggressive tempo continued to bother Cornell, as evidenced by the six fouls and two yellow cards committed by them in the second 45 minutes. However, the Knox offense could not take advantage and score a goal until the 81st minute, when Nick Janulis slotted home a goal to double the Knox lead. This goal would ultimately be some very good insurance, as Isaiah Jones scored his first goal of the season to draw the Rams within one. Fears of Cornell tying up the game would not come to pass, as Knox notched their 14th win of the season.
“It was an unusual day since we already know we will be seeing them again on Friday in the Midwest Conference semi-final and today they demonstrated just how tough an opponent they will be,” said head coach Brian O’Connor. “With that being said it was a great way to send the seniors out with a win on Prats. The second season begins tomorrow and all of our focus will be be on preparing for the MWC Tournament.”
The Prairie Fire men’s soccer team’s regular season is now over, and they will get a rematch with Cornell in the first round of the Midwest Conference Tournament at St. Norbert on November 2.
