By: After a closely-contested first 78 minutes, the Prairie Fire scored twice within 30 seconds to push the lead out of reach.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's soccer team hung tough with Knox College nearly the entire way, but a penalty kick and a defensive lapse proved to be too much to overcome. The Prairie Fire emerged victorious at England Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, 3-0, to improve to 11-2-3 (6-0-0 Midwest Conference). The Blueboys fall to 8-7-1 (3-3-1 MWC) this season.
Though Knox had an 11-2 edge in shots in the first half, Illinois College successfully frustrated the Prairie Fire offense until James Barrington broke through on a header in the 39th minute after a corner kick.
Brock Ziegemeier and
Alexis Zazueta had the two shots for the Blueboys.
The game grew increasingly physical in the second half. Three more yellow cards were added to the tally after the referee issued two in the first half. The Blueboys had six shots in the second half, however none of them challenged Knox goalkeeper Justin Dunn. The Prairie Fire advantage remained 1-0 until late in the match, when Knox was able to score twice to put the match away. First, a collision in the 18-yard box between
Ty Clearwater and a Prairie Fire forward resulted in a penalty kick that was tucked away by Erick Karkut. After the restart, it took Knox 23 seconds to score again, this time on a Nick Janulis goal with the assist from Rocky Plaza.
Clearwater ended the night with three saves.
Jacob Nunez was the lone IC player with multiple shots in the match, finishing with two.
Illinois College remains at home this weekend to celebrate Senior Day against Lake Forest College. The men's match will begin at approximately 1:30 p.m. following the conclusion of the women's match which begins at 11 a.m.
