By: A stirring comeback for the second match running wasn’t enough to get the Blueboys the points they were looking for on the road against the MWC regular season champions.
Box Score GALESBURG, Ill. – The Illinois College men's soccer team has shown an amazing ability to battle back in matches this season, in particular in the past two outings. But after the amazing 4-3 victory the team managed on Saturday against Carroll, the Blueboys couldn't duplicate the feat on Wednesday afternoon at Knox. Facing the squad that already had clinched the Midwest Conference regular season title entering the match, IC battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the match at 2-2 at halftime. Unfortunately, the momentum didn't carry over to the second half and the Prairie Fire walked away with a 4-2 win.
Knox put two on the board in the opening quarter of an hour. Charlie Harned's sixth of the season made it 1-0 in the eighth minute for the Prairie Fire, and Nathaniel Logie's 12th in the 15th minute doubled the margin to 2-0.
The Illinois College comeback started in the 35th minute as
Austin Cearlock dribbled through the teeth of the Knox defense and scored unassisted to slice it to a 2-1 margin. The match would enter the half tied after
Josue Hernandez' equalizer from the penalty spot in the 41st minute.
The score would remain level until the 72nd minute. Jon Brimeyer's first goal of the season came off a header and scored just inside the right post. In the 82nd minute, Abdulsalam Oganla's fourth tally of the season made yet another Blueboy rally a near-impossibility.
"I marvel at our team's ability to come back from a deficit," said Head Coach
Tyler Sheikh. "I wish we'd stop doing it, because today coming back for the fifth time in two games proved to be too much. I was impressed with the level of the regular season champs. Matt (Edwards) and his staff have done a phenomenal job this season. We'll look to regroup and learn from this loss and hopefully have some results fall our way to squeeze into the playoffs. But first thing is first, we need to honor our four seniors Saturday with a proper send-off win."
The Blueboys now host Cornell and will hope that a full three points from that match will be enough to see them through into the MWC Tournament. If that proves to be the case, another opportunity to face Knox may present itself in just over a week. Illinois College hosts the Rams on Nov. 1 at England Stadium and will celebrate Senior Day for Josue and
Michael Hernandez,
Andrew Matheney and
Jordan Nelson. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
