GALESBURG, Illinois— Knox College continued their winning streak in men's soccer Saturday as the Prairie Fire rolled over the Illinois College Blueboys by a score of 3-0. After a slow start in the first half, the persistent Knox attack finally wore the Blueboys down and Knox cruised to another victory.
 
The Prairie Fire (6-2-1) began the game with a relatively slow offensive approach, and as a result there were not many strong looks in the first few minutes. Some highlights from the early minutes include a fantastic cross by Milan Van Roessel that was directed on goal by Nick Janulis only to be narrowly saved, and a long speculative effort by Pedro Moura.
 
Towards the end of the first half, Knox began to put together a more cohesive attack. Gavin Douglas headed a ball off a cross to the left of the net that narrowly missed in the 30th minute, the result of an increased tempo. Several other close shots also transpired due to the tempo, but as the first half came to a close the score was the same as it was when the game started, 0-0.
 
As the second half began, it was evident that there was an increased focus on passing the ball around and not getting stuck in on the opponent's side. Pedro Moura narrowly missed a goal on a direct kick in the 49th minute, and a shot from the left side of the box by Adetayo Oluwasegun in the 54th minute narrowly missed the goal. The Blueboys seemed to be able to put up with the Knox pressure, but they finally folded in the 61st minute, as Rodrigo Carvalho headed in a goal off a free kick rebound to put the Prairie Fire up 1-0.
 
The second Knox goal was the result of a perfect assist by Carvalho from outside the box that was beautifully headed by Jun Min and found netting. A little over one minute later, Raphael Adeyemi sprinted through the Illinois College defense and was tripped up in the opponent's penalty box, allowing him to draw the penalty kick. He converted in the bottom left corner to give the Prairie Fire their third and final goal.
 
"Today was a tale of two halves. IC was really tough defensively and were hard to break down," said head coach Brian O'Connor. "The second half we raised our speed of play and were able to get our goals late. All in all it was a good win against a tough conference opponent."
 
Knox appears to be in a groove right now, and will look to continue their six game win streak when they host Ripon College on September 29.