GALESBURG, Illinois—The Prairie Fire broke out with six unanswered goals in the second half of their home-opener on Saturday and rolled to an 8-1 win over Concordia University-Chicago.
 
Senior Nathaniel Logie (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Queens Royal College) opened the scoring with a successful penalty kick at the 9:39 mark for his first goal of the season.

Knox pushed the lead to 2-0 when first-year  Austin Grzebieniak (North Barrington, IL, Barrington Community) scored off a feed from sophomore Lucas Sanchez (Sao Paulo, Brazil, Pueri Domus) 30:15 into the contest.

Concordia answered with a goal by Fabian Robles late in the first half to trim the deficit to one.  It was the only shot the Prairie Fire allowed through the first stanza.

"Going into the half up 2-1, the fellas looked around and agreed to give our fans a better showing for the home-opener," Knox head coach Tyler Sheikh said.  "The end result was six goals in the second half so I'm happy that (the players) put together 45 minutes they can feel good about."
 
Logie shifted the momentum back to the Prairie Fire when he took a pass from junior Andy Van Buskirk (Overland Park, KS, Rockhurst) and connected for his second goal of the day and a 3-1 advantage.

That set off a flurry by the hosts, who erupted for five more goals over the next 20 mintes to run away with the victory.
 
Junior Terence Lau (Shanghai, China, Shanghai American School) came off the bench for two quick scores, followed by goals from senior Charlie Harned (Webster Groves, MO, Clayton), sophomore Sam Tatum (Atlanta, GA, Paideia School), and first-year Joe Dyer (Kansas City, MO, Oak Park).
 
Knox dominated the Cougars in shots (25-3) and shots on goal (13-1). First-year goalkeeper Justin Dunn (Winnetka, IL, New Trier) earned his second win in the net.

"(Coach) Micah (Middendorf) did a good job with his team as I thought they put in a good start to the game," Sheikh added.  "Concordia plays with an edge and we knew their resolve and the conditions would be tough today.  We were displeased to concede softly, but our defense wasn't as tight as we'd like it to be."

The Prairie Fire continue their home stretch on Sunday against Edgewood College (1:30 p.m.) and Wednesday against MacMurray College (4:00 p.m.) in the annual Ferris Trophy match.