LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Illinois College men's soccer team advanced to the finals of the Midwest Conference Tournament after beating Knox in a match that went to penalty kicks on Friday at Farwell Field.
The victory moved IC, who is the two-seed in the tournament to 13-4-2 overall. Knox, who was the three-seed, finished 7-7-4.
IC 3 Knox 3 (decided on penalty kicks)
IC got on the board first when
Tyler Schiltz scored nearly seven minutes (6:40) into the match off an assist from
Toby Ybarra.
The Prairie Fire evened the contest at the 14:02 mark off a goal from Arito Nakamichi and then took the lead at 19:36 when Eusebio King-Mills found the net.
Knox took that 2-1 lead into halftime.
The Blueboys tied the match at the 62:00 mark as
Jives Efemini fed
Tyler Lunning on a spectacular goal.
IC took the lead at the 73:21 mark off a goal from Ybarra but that lead was short lived as the Prairie Fire evened the contest 26 seconds later when Kestervens Dera scored.
Both teams battled through the end of regulation and both overtime periods, so the match went to penalty kicks.
Penalty kicks went seven rounds before the match was decided. IC's
TJ Esseily stopped Goncalo Antunes and then Lunning drilled home his shot to send the Blueboys to championship match.
IC had a 14-11 advantage on shots and was led by Lunning's four.
Owen Macias started the match in goal and handled the first half. Esseily worked the second half, overtime, and the penalty round. He recorded four saves.
Blue Notes
The Blueboys have now reached the conference tournament final twice, the 1990 squad won the tournament as a fourth seed… this is the second consecutive year IC has played an overtime match in the Midwest Conference Tournament… with at least one match to play, Schiltz is now the school's all-time leader in goals, assists, points, and shots… prior to the match, senior
Thomas Menke was awarded the 2024 Midwest Conference Elite 20 Award for having the highest grade point average among student-athletes competing in the tournament.
Up Next
IC will meet Lake Forest, who defeated Grinnell, 4-1, in the other semifinal on Friday, at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow for the 2024 Midwest Conference Tournament Championship and an automatic berth in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
