By: Frankie Copado scored the game-winner for Illinois College in the early minutes of the second half to lift IC to a 2-1 win over Knox.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – When a date is circled on the calendar for months, things can either go very right or very wrong once the waiting finally ends. A determined Illinois College men's soccer team had things go very right on Tuesday night against visiting Knox College, handing the defending regular season champion Prairie Fire and their head coach a 2-1 defeat in front of an animated England Stadium crowd. The victory improves IC to 7-2-0 (1-0-0 Midwest Conference) and gives Knox (6-1-1, 1-1-0 MWC) its first loss of the season.
Tyler Sheikh led the Blueboys to the one of the best seasons in the history of Illinois College soccer in 2014 and his return as the head coach of Knox has been anticipated for a long time. The crowd was behind the Blueboys from the very start and they didn't have to wait long for a pay-off, with
Joe Tooley fending off a challenge from a Knox defender to slip a through ball to
Ben Cochran. Cochran was left one-on-one with the goalkeeper from 10 yards out, but a save would have been imminent if not for the outside-of-the-boot delivery that the senior squeezed past Justin Dunn to put Illinois College ahead in the third minute.
From that point on, the half continued more or less as expected. The two teams – who played each other twice last season – grew increasingly chippy as the minutes ticked away and a booking was just a matter of time. Despite some hard challenges from the Prairie Fire, it was IC's
Mesfin Lenth who went into the books first with a yellow card in the 25th minute.
By the time of Lenth's card, the match had swung Knox's way. One shot from the Prairie Fire had hit the crossbar and another would have been goal-bound if not for the IC defense, which covered for goalkeeper
Ty Clearwater after he advanced forward to try to punch away a cross into the box. In the 35th minute, the Blueboys were whistled for a foul on the edge of their own area. Reigning MWC Player of the Year Nathaniel Logie stood over the free kick and sent a low delivery into the box that Joe Dyer knew little of, yet the deflection it took off his head beat Clearwater and made it a 1-1 match as the teams went into halftime.
The aggressiveness of the match continued early in the second half as Knox picked up its first yellow card just a little more than two minutes in for a reckless challenge on Clearwater. Soon after, a foul on Knox allowed the Blueboys to swing a ball from midfield into the box that ended with
Brock Chartier in possession. Chartier quickly shuffled the ball to
Frankie Copado on the left edge of the six-yard box and his rocketed shot eluded Dunn and gave Illinois College a 2-1 lead in the 49th minute.
The harsh tone set by the Prairie Fire continued throughout the remainder of the second half, but the visitors were shaken after falling behind for only the second match all season. Knox put numbers forward throughout the half, but Clearwater and a valiant defensive effort from the back line cleared away all the chances that the Prairie Fire manufactured. Left alone as a target man up front, Tooley held up play brilliantly throughout the half and created chances for the Blueboys to come forward and relieve the pressure in the back. As time ticked down, Knox's shots grew wilder and the final one came off the foot of Charles Edemba with 30 seconds remaining.
Austin Cearlock booted away one final clearance inside the last 10 seconds and the Blueboys were able to celebrate a meaningful victory.
Clearwater earned his sixth victory of the season by making six saves on the night.
The Blueboys will now go on the road this weekend to try to capitalize on their big early-season victory. IC meets Cornell College on Sept. 26 in Mount Vernon, Iowa at 1:30 p.m.
