Men's Soccer vs Coe College on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024.
Knox College
Senior Joel Sanchez scored the game's first goal.
2
Knox KNOX (7-7-3, 4-2-2)
2
Ripon RIPON (13-6-1, 4-3-1)
Knox KNOX
(7-7-3, 4-2-2)
2
Final
2
Ripon RIPON
(13-6-1, 4-3-1)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Knox KNOX 1 1 2
Ripon RIPON 0 2 2

Game Recap: Men's Soccer |

Late Dera Goal Sends Knox Men to MWC Tournament

Knox is the three seed and will play Illinois College at Lake Forest on Friday

RIPON, Wis. — Needing at least a tie to guarantee a spot at the Midwest Conference Men's Soccer Tournament next weekend, Knox College got exactly what it needed with a 2-2 draw at Ripon College on Saturday. Sophomore Kestervens Dera provided the game-tying goal with just over four minutes to play to even the score and allow the Prairie Fire (7-7-3, 4-2-2 MWC) to continue their season, while the Red Hawks (13-6-1, 4-3-1 MWC), coupled with Grinnell College's 3-1 win over Lawrence University today, were eliminated.

Things were looking up for Knox in the first half when senior Adrian Segura intercepted a pass near midfield, fed sophomore Sasha Esper with a long pass. Esper then left the ball for senior Joel Sanchez, who drilled a laser from 20 yards past the Red Hawk keeper just inside the right goal post for a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute.

The score remained that way until five minutes into the second stanza when Ripon got the equalizer off a corner kick that was headed over the Knox keeper by Andre Robertson. With about 11 minutes to play, the Red Hawks took the lead on a spinning kick from a throw-in that snuck through the Prairie Fire defense, putting Knox in a precarious position with the tournament berth on the line.

Thankfully, a Knox corner kick late in the match was kicked around in the box by several players before Dera was able to get a shot off in a crowd. His blast found the back of the net to get the Prairie Fire back to even and give him his 10th goal of the season.

Unfortunately for Knox, sophomore Tomás Ramos was issued a yellow card for celebrating on the field, his second of the game, leaving the Prairie Fire down a man for the final 4:02. But the defense stepped up and did not allow Ripon to get a single shot off, securing the tie and the tournament berth.

  • Knox will be the third seed with Lake Forest College (8-7-3, 7-0-1) serving as host as the top seed.
  • The Prairie Fire will play second-seeded Illinois College (13-4-1, 7-1-0 MWC) with Grinnell (8-5-5, 4-2-2 MWC) taking on the Foresters in the other semifinal.
  • The Blueboys defeated Knox back on Oct. 9 in Galesburg by a 1-0 margin, scoring the goal with under three minutes to play.
  • This is the 10th time in the last 11 seasons that Knox has qualified for the conference tournament, winning the event in 2021.

The semifinal game against Illinois College will kick off at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8 at Farwell Field on the campus of Lake Forest College.

Print Friendly Version