GALESBURG, Ill. — With one of the top teams in the Midwest Conference in town, the Knox women's soccer team went toe-to-toe with Illinois College and came away with a scoreless tie at Jorge Prats Field on Tuesday afternoon. First-year goalkeeper Darby Wallig made eight saves in recording her first career shutout for the Prairie Fire (1-9-1, 0-2-1 MWC), while the Lady Blues (8-2-3, 0-0-2) turned away three Knox shots.
"We played a good game today," Prairie Fire head coach Annie Gerdes asserted following the contest. "It took us a minute to get into our style, but once we did, we played well. We are excited to keep the momentum going and continue to grow each game."
Illinois College, which had a size advantage at nearly every position, was not afraid to get physical, getting whistled for 15 fouls on the day compared to just eight for Knox. That helped the Lady Blues hold a 9-2 shot advantage in the first half and a 4-0 edge in shots on goal.
The pace picked up in the second half with the Prairie Fire staying in stride with Illinois College nearly the entire time. The first two Knox shots on goal were thwarted without much difficulty, but the last one by fifth-year Alex Halleck with little more than five minutes to play was headed for the bottom left corner of the goal. Lady Blue netminder Sophia Kriegesmann came up with a diving save, barely deflecting the ball outside the post.
Illinois College frantically pushed upfield to score a game-winning marker, but the Prairie Fire defense was up to the task.
- The lone tie for Knox last year was also a scoreless draw — at Illinois College.
- This was the second shutout for the Prairie Fire this fall, the other coming in an 8-0 win over Eureka College on Sept. 21.
Knox has one final non-conference tilt against Carthage College before playing its final five MWC games. The Prairie Fire will host the 5-2-3 Firebirds at Jorge Prats Field on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for FC Galesburg Day. Live video and stats will be available through the official athletics website of Knox College, PrairieFire.Knox.edu.
