GALESBURG, Illinois – The Prairie Fire's remarkable season came to an end on a late goal by Carroll University in the championship of the Midwest Conference men's soccer tournament hosted by Knox.

Knox and Carroll allowed precious few opportunities to line up a clean look at the goal.  The Pioneers broke through when Max Thoma scored on a header off their sixth corner kick of the second half at the 87:22 mark.

The Prairie Fire were unable to tie the score and send the match into overtime and suffered their first home loss of the season in 10 games.  No other opponent had shut Knox out this year either.

The first half was virtually even with Carroll holding a slim 3-2 edge in shots while Knox had the only corner kick.

The Pioneers (10-8-2) got off four shots and a corner kick in the first 11 minutes of the second half before the Prairie Fire countered with a corner and a shot that was wide by sophomore Terence Lau (Shanghai, China, Shanghai American School).  Carroll followed with a flurry of two shots and three corners between the 65th and 69th minutes, but Knox withstood it.

Following a shot by Friday's hero, first-year Shu Kitamura (Hong Kong, Hong Kong, IMG Academy) that was saved by Carroll goalie Nick Drew at the 86:18 mark, the Pioneers came back with a corner kick by Francisco Sajuan that Thoma got enough of with a header to find the back of the net.

Carroll outshot Knox 9-5 in the second period and 12-7 overall, including 6-2 on goal.

Senior keeper Sean Dockrell (Dublin, Ireland, San Bernadino CC) recorded five saves for the Prairie Fire.  He finished his career with a school record 19 shutouts, including 10 this year to tie the all-time single season Midwest Conference record, and 28 wins in goal.

The Prairie Fire (15-4) also set new school records for wins in a season and consecutive wins (13) during the 2014 campaign.  Just a few years removed from a 1-16 season in 2011 – including an 0-9 mark in the conference play – Knox has won a combined 28 matches over the last two seasons, earned its first Midwest Conference regular season title since 1988, and advanced to the MWC tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first in the history of the men's soccer program under head coach Matt Edwards.

Knox also graduates valuable four-year player, senior Jacob Polay (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg).  Polay played in 64 matches for the Prairie Fire during his career and was a key contributor to the team's 19 shutouts over the past two seasons.