Galesburg, IL – St. Norbert College scored a pair of goals within six minutes of each other to defeat the Prairie Fire 2-1 on Saturday at Jorge Prats Field.

The win was the fourth straight for the Green Knights (8-7-3, 5-3-2 MWC), which could get them into the Midwest Conference Tournament.  The match was the regular season finale for both SNC and Knox (6-9-2, 2-6-2 MWC).

The Prairie Fire took a 1-0 lead when senior Donald Tchopya (San Francisco, CA, Galileo Academy of Science and Technology) scored an unassisted goal, his seventh of the season, at the 62:30 mark.

St. Norbert tied the match with a goal at 67:31, and then scored what turned out to be the game-winner at 73:17.  The Knights’ defense held the Knox offense without a goal over the final 16:43 of the match.

The Green Knights outshot the Prairie Fire 14 to eight, including eight to three on goal.

Knox first-year goalie Sean McGovern (Chicago, IL, Niles Notre Dame) had six saves.

The Prairie Fire’s six wins, including two MWC matches, are the most since 1999.  The 1999 team finished with a 7-8-1 overall record and a 4-5 mark in the conference to tie for fourth place.

Four Knox seniors were recognized before the match for their dedication to the soccer program: Tchopya, Michael Gasparro (San Diego, CA, Coronado), Luca Rajola-Pescarini (Naples, Italy, Keith Country Day School), and Min Quang Do (Hanoi, Vietnam, Hanoi Amsterdam).

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