Aurora, IL – Aurora University halted the Prairie Fire’s winning streak at two with a 3-1 victory on Tuesday.

The Spartans, playing Knox for the first time since a 2-0 win during the 2005 season, snapped a two-match losing streak of their own.

Aurora (3-2) scored the lone goal of the first half on a penalty kick 35:35 into the match. 

The hosts extended the lead to 2-0 with another successful penalty kick at 51:10.  Aurora scored its third goal at the 73:33 mark for a 3-0 advantage.

Knox (2-2) cut the deficit to 3-1 on a penalty kick by senior Donald Tchopya (San Francisco, CA, Galileo Academy of Science and Technology), his third goal of the season, in the 78th minute.  The Prairie Fire was unable to draw any closer.

Aurora outshot Knox 29-6 overall, including 9-3 on goal.  First-year goalie Sean McGovern (Chicago, IL, Niles Notre Dame) had six saves for the Prairie Fire.

The Spartans are now 3-0 against Midwest Conference schools this season.  Aurora earned its first win against Lake Forest College (3-1) 3-2 in OT at home.  The Foresters have won three straight since that match while outscoring the opposition 20-3.  Aurora also owns a 10-1 victory against Cornell College in a match played in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

The Spartans were coming off back-to-back 2-1 losses last Friday and Saturday in Michigan against Hope College and Calvin College prior to the match against Knox.

The Prairie Fire begins Midwest Conference play on September 15 at Ripon College (2-2).  The match begins at 1:30 p.m.  Knox is 2-1 on the road this season while the Red Hawks are 2-0 at home.

Ripon will provide a live web stream of the match at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/midwest.portal#

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